


Darcy Lewis: Or the time she gets married to Bucky for money

by KeepInHappiness16



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), captain america: the winter soldier - Fandom
Genre: Avengers are actually sneaky assholes when it comes to setting people up, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff - Freeform, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fake Marriage, Thor/Jane Foster - Freeform, WinterShock - Freeform, au as fuck, background Tony Stark/Pepper Potts - Freeform, marriage trope
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-24
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:26:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeepInHappiness16/pseuds/KeepInHappiness16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When ten grand is on the line, you bet your ass Darcy is going to do whatever it takes to get it. SHIELD's salary is a joke, she needs new clothes, and Bucky isn't too bad in a tux. Hella AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing. The lack of Darcy/Bucky marriage tropes makes me very sad, and tumblr's AU examples are life savers.  
> Unbeta'd all mistakes are mine

"There's no fucking way Superman is cooler than Batman."

"Ok, first of all, Superman has _super powers_ and you're trying to tell me he isn't cooler than Batman?" 

Bucky rolled his eyes, snatching a handful of popcorn from the bowl on Darcy's lap before continuing, "That is exactly why he's cooler than Superman. He does all of this badass shit and doesn't die _and_ he's human." 

Knowing she wasn't going to get her opinion through Bucky's incredibly thick skull, she slapped his hand away when he tried reach in for more popcorn. "Get your own." And out comes the kicked-puppy look. God he was good at that. "FINE." Bucky smirked as he shoveled another handful in his mouth. 

"Are you guys still watching those movies?" Steve, Natasha, and Clint walked into the common room where Darcy and Bucky were. The two of them had been stretched out across Starks huge couch, popcorn in hand, and we're marathoning all of the Dark Knight movies. 

"Yup," Bucky answered, "Remind me to never do this again. Darce keeps tryin' to tell me that Superman is better than Batman." 

"But Superman has powers, Buck. Shouldn't he win by default?" 

"Thank you!!" Darcy yelled. She was about to tell the trio why Bucky was wrong when her cell phone went off. When she saw the caller ID, she frowned. 

"What's wrong, Darce?" Bucky questioned, his voice low. 

She shook her head before she untangled her legs from his. "It's my brother. He doesn't usually call unless it's an emergency. I'll be right back." 

Bucky nodded his head before pausing the movie. Darcy jogged to the balcony door, opened it, and stepped outside to give herself some privacy. "John? Is everything alright?" 

From the other line, she heard John laugh. "I'm fine, Darcy. I just have somethin' I gotta talk to you about." 

She sighed, glad is wasn't something bad. "Alright, what is it?" 

"Well Xander said he was lookin' over the things pop left us after he passed, and said that there was a big lump of money that we were suppose to get. Now, there's about ten grand for each of us, that him and I have already received." 

"Holy shit. Really? Well, you can just send mine in the mail!" She couldn't believe she was getting all of this money, three years after her dad died. Tony had offered to have some lawyers of his go and check any legal papers for her, but she declined. She knew, or thought she did, her brothers had things under control. Guess not. "I can't believe it's taken this long to find out." 

"Well that's just it, Darcy," Her brother said, a hint of mischief in his voice, "Xander and I got our share, you on the other hand.."

"What are you talking about?" 

"We got our share because we both have partners." She waited for her brother to continue, but the line stayed silent. 

"What are you trying to say, Johnnathan?" 

She could _see_ his damn smirk through her cell phone, "His will says that we have to be married to actually receive the money. And Darcy, I love you, but I'll bet this ten grand of mine that you ain't even got yourself a boyfriend." 

She stood there, phone pressed to her ear, as she took in all that he was telling her. Her father, God bless him, was a trick-playin' SOB. Of course he would do this. Pull this kind of shit even after he left and went to wherever you go after you die. She still couldn't seem to understand it. And on top of that, her brother is making fun of her single life(which is going fine, thank you very much). 

"Is this some fucking joke?" 

John chuckled, "Sorry sweetheart, no joke. You're gonna have to come down here and introduce your husband to the family before you get your share." 

She rubbed her hand down her face, frustrated. Darcy could tell he was getting a kick out of this, but she went on to say, "You're a sick bastard, you know that?"

After that, she and Johm traded good byes and hung up. Darcy walked back into the common room, but instead of just Bucky there, the whole team was spread out across the room. Walking over and sitting down in Bucky's lap, her original seat being taken by Clint and his outstretched leg, she looked around the room to see that everyone shared a worried look. 

"Everything's fine," she told them, "My brother called to give me some news. Apparently my dad left the three of us a sum of money for us after he died." 

"That isn't so bad! _OW_." Tony said, rubbing his ribs from where Natasha drove her elbow. 

Darcy just laughed, "Yeah, it would be, except for the fact that I can't get the money until I'm married." At that, everyone became quiet, especially Bucky. 

"So what's your plan? Wait however many years until you meet Mr. Right? God...what if you never get married.." Another groan came from Tony, this time the back of his head was probably sporting a good bruise. "Or," he said mischievously, rubbing his head, "You could marry one of us. Quick ceremony, sign the papers, shove 'em in your family's face and get your money!" 

"That's not a bad idea.." Darcy said, mostly to herself. The things is, a SHIELD desk job pays shit, even if you're living in Avengers Tower, there are things a girl needs. Like clothes, and sometimes those need aren't satisfied _because_ of the shitty SHIELD salary. But ten grand...that made Darcy's head spin. 

"I'd offer myself, but Pepper is my one and only woman. Sorry, kid." 

She rolled her eyes, "As if you'd be my first choice, Stark." 

Clint rubbed his hands together, a big smile on his face. "Yeah, Stark. We all know I'd be Darcy's first pick. But, unfortunately for her, Nat has first dibs on this." He waves his hands along his body, which earns him a smack to the back of the head, too. 

Bucky rolled his eyes, but slightly tightened his grip on Darcy, "You guys are assholes."

Tony gave a low whistle, "Upset you aren't her first choice, Cyborg?" Darcy gave Tony a 'Don't start something you aren't willing to finish' look. He raised his hands up in surrender. 

"Come on, Bucky," She said, getting up off of his lap and grabbing his hand, "Let's go upstairs, we'll finish the movie tomorrow." 

As the two made their way to the elevator, everyone exchanged looks. Once they were gone, Steve was the first to speak up. "So are we getting them together, or what?"

Tony wore an evil smirk. "Already on it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. Holy shit you guys, I posted the first chapter at like midnight last night because I thought, 'What the hell!'. AND HERE WE ARE 850 HITS AND CLIMBING. Woo hoo! ALSO this is definitely going to be a few more chapters long, so if you want me to write about something specific, leave them in the comments! Thank you for the kudos and such!

After moving into the Avengers Tower with Jane, SHIELD asked Darcy to come work for them. They told her that she had very useful skill set that would fit great with what they would have her do. Apparently she’s the perfect person for SHIELD paper work. _Great._

Darcy met Bucky at one of Stark's lame parties. Well, they weren’t all lame, the alcohol was good enough to have her stay and not die of boredom. Apparently, Bucky had the same idea. With her Rum and Coke concoction and his surprising margarita, she teased him a bit on his choice of poison.

“See, back before the war, all you had was whiskey and vodka. Now they have this fruity drink that I wouldn’t usually be caught dead drinkin’, but it’s so good.” Bucky took a long sip from his glass before giving her his best, heart-breaking smile and held out his hand. “James Barnes, call me Bucky.”

“Darcy Lewis, call me whatever you want.” She took his hand in her’s and shook it. “I’d probably be drinking the same thing as you, but Stark's parties usually make me angry and tired, so I’m going a little hard on the alcohol tonight.” She tossed back the rest of her drink before waving the poor man behind the bar for another round. 

The rest of that night was filled with laughter, stories about tiny brunettes who don’t get enough sleep because of science, and a tall chiseled blond who can’t seem to shake off his attraction to trouble. Darcy couldn’t remember how many drinks she had that night, she stopped counting after five, but Bucky and her talked throughout the whole party. 

When she woke up the next morning in her bed, clothes from the night before still intact, she knew who to thank.

Months had passed, and with them, Darcy and Bucky’s friendship grew. She heard about how much of a flirt he was, but he never tried anything with her(which was a little disappointing). When Bucky visited Darcy in her room Stark supplied for her, he realized just how lonely she was. With Jane rooming with Thor down the hall, he offered to let her stay over at his place a few nights a week. 

When a few nights turned into every night, her toothbrush next to his, and a drawer that was specifically for her clothes, he asked her to room with him. She thought she might as well, he had an extra bedroom and bath, as did all of the rooms Stark gave everyone. 

So after Bucky and Darcy got up to their rooms, tension started to grow. It wasn't much at first, but minutes started to pass before they said a word to each other. 

"I don't know what to do," She said quietly, "I don't want to lie to my family, but _God,_ do you know what I could buy with ten grand?! Clothes, Bucky. Clothes and shoes.." 

Bucky started to shift from his right foot to his left, feeling a bit nervous about what he was about to offer. "I could-uh- I could do it. Be your 'husband'." 

Darcy's head shot up, looking right at him. "You'd do that? That's great! It's just..if we signed the papers tonight and took a flight to see my brothers, they'd know it's a sham. John already knows I'm not dating anyone, it'd be obvious what I was doing." 

He shrugged his shoulders, "Then we could pretend to date. Few weeks, maybe a few months? People nowadays get married that quick, right? Nothin' would be stopping us, doll." 

Darcy squealed before launching herself at Bucky, holding onto him in a tight hug. "Yes! Thank you thank you _thank you!_ Dude, this is going to work out so well, I'll even give you a share of the money." 

"No need to do that, sweetheart. Just helping out a friend." Darcy tried not to cringe at the word. _Friend_. They separated from their hug and Darcy went to go grab her phone. 

"I'm going to go call Jane, I'll probably be down in the lab for the rest of the day if you need me." She smiled at him, "Really, thanks Bucky. It's so awesome you're doing this for me." 

With that, she waltzed out the door. Bucky squeezed his eyes shut before groaning. "What the hell am I doing?" 

-*-*-*-

“JANE. I think I made a huge mistake.” Darcy walked over to where Jane was hunched over her desk, probably reading about some science stuff. When they moved into the Tower, Jane had a little bit of a science-gasm when she saw all of the equipment Tony had provided for her. No more homemade shit. Darcy was starting to worry that the things Jane had built from scratch would one day bite them in the ass. 

Jane lifted her head, “What’s wrong?” Darcy explained her problem with her family and the money, and then she went on to tell Jane her bigger problem.

“Bucky offered to be my ‘husband’, but when I told him my family wasn’t stupid and that they’d realize what I was doing he suggested we could pretend date before we get pretend married but I don’t _want_ to pretend to date Bucky, I want to _actually_ date him! Do you see my problem?”

Jane shrugged her shoulder, spinning around in her chair so that she was completely facing Darcy. “Then ask him out, what would be wrong with that?”

Darcy sighed and shook her head, “No way, I like living with him and being friends with him. What if he just wants to stay friends? He even said he was ‘just helping out a friend’ when I told him I’d give him some of the money. I don’t want to lose my friendship with him just because I have a crush on him, Jane.” She sighed and rested her head on the desk next to Jane’s work. “I hate guys.” She grumbled. 

Jane smiled and patted Darcy’s knee, “Sometimes you have to take risks to get what you want, even if the consequences cost you something you love. Take science, for example..”

Darcy groaned. “You are no help to me, woman. I think I’ll just shove these stupid feelings down until I get the money, then we’ll talk.” 

“How long are you guys going to do this for?” Jane started to get up and move around the lab, checking different equipment for whatever reason, but continued to listen to Darcy. Jane knew exactly how this would end. She’s seen the way Bucky and Darcy act around each other, and she could bet that the other Avengers saw it too. If they knew what the two of them are planning to do, they’re probably coming up with ways to keep these two together, and Jane will _definitely_ be apart of it.

“Bucky said a few weeks to a couple of months, god this is going to suck. He said it’d be more believable the longer we do it.” She heaved a sigh before getting up from her chair, “Do you want something to eat? Wait, you’ve probably been down here all morning, so of course you’re hungry. I’m going to run up to the kitchen and make some food for us, I’ll be back down in a little while.”

Once she left, Jane smirked. “Hey JARVIS, did you record all of that?”

A posh voice responded to her, “Yes, Ms. Foster. Would you like for me to send the recording to Sir?”

“Yup.” She replied, feeling as though she should give herself a pat on the back. Yeah, Jane can be a sneaky little shit, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want to follow me on tumblr(haha totally not self-promoting) http://officialyelenabelova.tumblr.com/  
> Now, I don't post stuff about the things I write, but if you guys are interested and want me to post teasers before I upload the chapters let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright you guys, I'm going to be out of town for a few days for Thanksgiving, so I'll give you one more chapter until I have to leave. Some of the things in this one came from a few of the comments I've read, WHICH ARE SO HELPFUL! I love hearing you guys guess on what the other characters are planning, and your thoughts can definitely play a big role in the chapters to come, so please commenting it's awesome! Thank you for the kudos and such again!!

Bucky wasn't sure what to do. He literally offered to be this beautiful, amazing dame's fake husband. For what? Heartbreak? God he was stupid. He's asking for whatever comes at him in the future. But at the same time, he doesn't really regret the offer. Sure, Darcy will think he's only pretending, but he'll be able to do things he wasn't allowed to before. 

Since Darcy said she'd be in the labs all day, he thought he might as well go down to the gym and workout his feelings. Once he's dressed and makes his way down to the gym, he isn't surprised to see Sam there already. The man was a gym monkey. 

When Sam saw that Bucky was there, he gave him a nod hello. "So, how's Darcy dealing with the news?" Sam smiled to himself. Oh, he already knew, he just wanted to hear Bucky say it. For months, Sam and Steve watched Bucky open up when he was around Darcy. Of course Steve was a little upset that he wasn't able to do that for Bucky, be he was elated to know that his best friend was getting better. They've been watching the two tip-toe around each other when some of the housemates spoke up about their "couple-like" behavior, but they would just shrug it off and change the subject. 

Bucky groaned, "I think I dug myself a huge hole. It's so big I think I'm going to fall in and die in it." He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long sigh. "I offered to be her husband. I open my big mouth and outcomes the stupidest thing I could possibly say. But you know what? She was _happy_ that I offered! She's excited to be my partner for the wrong reason, Sam."

Biting on the inside of his cheek to keep his big smile from showing, Sam started to unravel the tape from around his hands and made his way over to where Bucky was standing. "Y'know man, you could always just ask her out." 

Bucky just rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple. We're friends. Roommates! It would make things awkward if she didn't feel the same way. God, I should have asked her out months ago. It's too late, I'm- what's it called? Friend zoned?" 

Sam laughed, "If you want to tell Darcy you feel like you're in the friend zone with her, I'd watch out. She'll clock you right in the teeth for saying that." He threw away the tape before laying a hand on Bucky's shoulder, "If you don't say something soon, you're going to be in a huge mess. You're going to have to be convincing if you're meeting her family, and if they're anything like Darcy, they'll catch your lie within seconds of you aren't careful." 

Bucky let out another huge groan. Damn, this is really going to bite him in the ass. 

-*-*-*-

"Sir, you have a call, would you like me to put it on the screen?"

"Yeah, JARVIS." Tony, of course, was in his workshop, messing with his newest creation. With greasy hands, he grabbed his hand towel from his back pocket and wiped off his hands as best he could.

"Mr. Stark?" A voice from the other line called out. 

"Tony, please, we've been over this, John. What's up?"

"Right, sorry. I just ain't use to talkin' to billionaires. I'm just callin' to check up on how the plan for Darcy's goin'? Did Barnes take the bait?"

Tony laughed, "Oh yeah, planted the seed of doubt in his mind when Darcy didn't suggest him for the husband role. Foster sent me the conversation she had with Darcy this afternoon, and I think Wilson is having a chat with Barnes as we speak. 

So here's the thing: Tony sent his lawyers to Darcy's family a few months ago, just as a check up to see how her family was doing. Darcy obviously didn't know, she'd fight him the first chance she'd get if she knew. But when his lawyers when over the legal papers, they found that her bothers had missed something very important. Inheritance money. 

Tony didn't know Darcy's brothers were quite the tricksters until they suggested the idea that their inheritance money that was left from their father could only be taken out ONLY if she was married. Tony thought the idea was awful, Lewis wasn't an idiot? But the men both agreed that it would definitely be something their father _would_ do, so he offered to help. What can he say? He gets bored sometimes.

And so the plan started to unravel. Tony explained that Darcy had become very smitten with a certain someone, and that the feelings were obviously mutual. But they never acted on said feelings, which honestly pissed everyone off. So when Tony learned that her brother was calling her to give her the news, he called everyone into the common room to watch his beautiful plan unravel. 

Which brings him to where he is now. "I'll keep you updated on things, John. I have a feeling it's going to get _quite_ exciting here soon.."

John laughed, "You got somethin' up your sleeve, Tony?"

"Boy, do I." 

-*-*-*-*-

The Avengers didn't usually have dinner together, but when they did, it was usually in the common room. Natasha and Clint took the love seat, while Thor, Jane, Banner, and Wilson took the extra long couch. Tony, Darcy, and Steve took the other couch, and Bucky rested against Darcy's legs from the floor. They were in the middle of a Friends episode when Pepper rushed out from the elevator. "Tony!"

"Yes dear?" He answered, shoveling another fork load of food into his mouth. Pepper greeted the rest of the team before she continued, "Tony, the party, it has to be moved to tomorrow night."

Tony's eyes shot up to hers, his brows furrowing. "Pep, it was set for next week, what do you mean it has to be tomorrow?" 

"Plans have changed, you have to be in California that week for a business meeting with the men from Taiwan's Stark Industries. The meeting can't be moved and _yes_ you have to go. I've already sent out emails to the guests to let them know that the plans have been changed. So far, everyone is still coming." 

Tony groaned and smashed his head on the back of the couch. "Alright guys," he said to the team, "Stark Industries party tomorrow, 8pm, don't be late. Dress code: Prom." Everyone groaned. 

Clint piped up, "Is it regular prom, or do I have to bring a date? Prom isn't exactly a good memory for me.." 

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Clint, you never went to prom, идиот." 

Clint smirked, "But now I can be your idiot prom date." Natasha blushed a little at that, but jabbed her elbow into his stomach anyway. 

"Wait, we have to have dates to go?" Darcy asked. She was totally confused because Tony usually had his shit together and let everyone know a month in advance when his parties were. Now, if Darcy had a choice, she wouldn't go to a SI party ever again. But Tony doesn't make anyone pay rent, and asks for them to simply come to his parties and hang out for a few hours in return. 

"You got it kid, no date, no party. And that also means no alcohol." 

Darcy scoffed. She knew he what he was trying to do, and it was working. He was bribing her with alcohol! Her one true weakness. But when she thought about her date, she realized she should probably tell the group about her and Bucky's situation. "Well..since we're on the topic of dates," she looked down at Bucky, whose eyes were wide with, what is that? Fear? No. Well, maybe fear of how his teammates will take the news. "Bucky and I are-uh-dating. For the money! Wait, no, that sounds bad.. Um?" 

"What she's tryin' to say, is that we're going to be dating and then get hitched so her family will give her the inheritance money. We knew they wouldn't believe us if we took a plane there tomorrow with the marriage documents, so we're spacing it out so that it's more believable." 

Clint laughed, not because it was funny but because he knew it was a terrible idea. "You guys wouldn't last two weeks as a real couple. You think you're going to fool her family? Yeah, good luck with that." 

"Hey!" Darcy shouted, "We already get along together great, you honestly think we couldn't make it?"

"I don't think it, Darce. I know it. Being friends is a lot different than being lovers. And I don't think you two are cut out for it." Clint couldn't, for the life of him, wipe off the stupid, shit-eating grin from his face. Damn, riling them up was almost too easy. He was barely trying!

"Oh yeah, Barton? I bet Bucky and me will make it the whole way through, no break ups." She was throwing in bets now? Damn, he knows his wallet is going to be screaming at him by the end of this, but it'll be so worth it. 

"$500 says you won't." He bet her. 

"Then $500 says I will." She holds out her hand, he takes it, and they shake. 

Tony pulled out his phone, texted John and typed, "Operation Marriage Trope is in full play."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, when I read over this chapter after I finished, the first thing that ran through my mind was 'Yeah, they're going to hate me'. Promise I'll make it up to you next chapter! Thanks for the kudos and comments, you guys make me laugh.

“The bet can’t just be about you guys changing from friends to a couple, that’s too easy, don’t you think?” Bruce, who had been sitting back the whole time finally spoke up. 

“Bruce! You’re supposed to be on my side dude.” Darcy slumped back into the couch. 

Clint smiled, “You know what? I think Bruce is right. For you guys to _be_ a couple, you have to _live_ like a couple.”

“Oh my god, you guys aren’t even being fair about this anymore!”

“Sure we are, Darce,” Steve piped up, “We’re also making it easier for when you and Buck visit your family.”

Darcy just ignored them. “Fine, the bet is whatever you want us to do. I just hope you’re ready to lose your money, Barton, because I’m winning this thing.” She got up and padded over to the kitchen where she rinsed off her plate and put it into the dishwasher. “I’m getting a drink.”

Bucky hopped up from where he was on the ground and said, “I’ll come with you.”

 

When the team watched the two leave to get a drink, an uncomfortable silence seemed to spread throughout the room. "Are we sure this is a good idea?" Jane had been thinking about what would happen if the plan ended up backfiring on them. She didn't want to lose her friend, but Darcy and Bucky were literally made for each other! When no one spoke up, though, she seemed to doubt herself more. 

"I sure as hell am." Tony spoke up. The sight of Barnes and Lewis together but not _together_ together made him want to rip something apart. "They have been making googly eyes at each other for months now and neither one has stepped up to the plate and asked the other out." He crossed his arms over his chest defensively, "And honestly, I think they are going to thank us in the end." 

"I would not like to risk hurting Darcy, but James is a very good man at heart. I believe that they will make the choice on their own, whether we are a part of it or not." Thor wound his arm around Jane, hugging her closer to him. 

Steve shrugged his shoulders, "At least we have that party tomorrow to work with, right? That was a stroke of luck." 

"Yeah, that was totally planned." Tony said with a smirk, winking at Pepper. "Didn't take much for me to persuade Pep into the plan, she wants those two idiots together just as much as we do." 

Pepper squared her shoulders before giving a sweet, yet terrifying, smile. "I have no comment." With that, she walked back to the elevator and left. 

"What _do_ you have planned for tomorrow, Stark?" Clint asked. 

"Games." Tony answered. "Lots and lots of games." 

 

In what was previously known as Stark Tower, you better believe there was a whole level that was just a huge bar. With lists of wine, scotch, and plenty more alcoholic drinks, there was no need to worry about not being able to get a drink without leaving the Tower itself. When the two walked in, they made a b-line to the bar. Darcy put in her order of a round of whiskey, and Bucky did the same. “No margarita this time?” She taunted him.

“Nah, not this time, doll. Need something a little stronger.” When their round came up, they each picked up a shot glass and toasted. “For good luck, to us, on winning this god damn bet.” Darcy chuckled before downing her shot.

“They seem to be trying pretty hard, don’t they?” She questioned. Bucky shrugged his shoulders, keeping his head down. Bucky had a pretty good idea of what the team was trying to do with him and Darcy, but he didn’t want to say anything about it, mostly because he liked where it might be headed. Darcy, of course, was not an idiot and would probably catch on if the group wasn’t careful and covered their tracks.

So he did the only thing he could do without giving himself away: he played dumb. “What do you mean? Trying too hard at what?”

Darcy just sighed before taking another shot, “I mean that they’re trying to push my buttons. They know I have a soft spot for you, so they’re trying to rile me up any way they can, and so far, it seems to be working.”  
Bucky smiled at that. “Soft spot, huh? You tryin’ to tell me you have a soft spot for an ex-assassin with a cybernetic arm?” That earned him a punch to his flesh and blood arm, and a little whimper from Darcy where she seemed to hurt her hand more than him.

“That’s not all you are, Bucky.” She took another shot, “You’re like, one of my best friends. Jesus, do you know how cool it is to be best friends with a trained assassin? I mean, not cool as in the fact that you’ve killed a bunch of people- ok this isn’t coming out the way I want it to..”

Bucky just laughed, “I know what you mean, doll. Do you know how cool it is to be friends with a normal person? Not some superhero who’s pumped up on a super serum, or a god, but a regular person. It’s..refreshing, to tell you the truth.”

Darcy giggled and reached out to grab his free hand, “I’m anything but regular. Regular is boring. Sometimes it gets pretty hectic around there though," she picked up her glass and took another shot. What number was this? Three? Four? "Especially when there's a big mission that's in play. But when it's just you that's home when the rest are away, it's makes things easier. Ugh," she groaned, resting her head on his shoulder and tightened her grip on his hand. "You just make things better, Bucky." 

"Alright, Darce. How many shots have you had already? God knows how strong Starks whiskey is. Come on, sweetheart." Bucky removed the shot glass from her hand so that she wouldn't drop it, and pushed her back so that she could sit up on her own. "Let's go back upstairs, we're going to have a big day tomorrow at Stark's party, you need your rest."

Her eyes started to droop and she swayed a bit in her chair, "No, I'm too tired." 

Bucky chuckled, "That's why we're going upstairs. Can you walk on your own, doll?" She shook her head no. He sighed, "Ok, I'm going to carry you, that alright with you?"

"As long as I don't have to use my legs." 

Picking her up bridal style from her seat, Bucky carried her to the elevator before pressing the up button. When the doors opened, he stepped inside and presses his floor number. "You're really great, Y'know that Buck? Super great. Could probably write a whole list on how great you are." She wound her arms around his neck and sighed. 

Yeah, Darcy was a very touchy drunk. A sweet drunk, but touchy (he's NOT complaining). She slowly drifted off to sleep during their ride in the elevator. When the doors opened on their floor, he gently made his way to their room, careful not to jostle her too much. When he opened the door and made his way to her bedroom, he froze. 

Where the fuck was her bed?

He quickly went to his room, checking to see if his was still there. It was. "JARVIS, where is Darcy's bed?" 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barns, but I am not at liberty to provide that information. Though, if I may, I would advise you to speak with Sir." 

"Fucking hell," He whispered. "Darcy, you're going to sleep on my room tonight, is that ok? I'll sleep out on the couch in the living room."

"What's wrong with my bed?" She slurred. Her eyes started to open as she started to wake up, but her grip around his neck tightened. 

"It's not there, and I'm pretty sure Tony has something to do with it. I'll bring you a change of clothes." He set her down in the bed and she curled herself around one of his pillows. 

When he went into her room, he went straight to the drawers, but nothing was in it. None of the drawers were filled, and when he checked her closet, it was empty as well. This was starting to piss him off. 

He marched back into his room, dug out a shirt and pair of shorts that would fit her, and set them on the bed next to her. He went through the rest of his drawers when he saw some of Darcy's clothing, and that there were three times as many clothes in his closet than there were that morning. 

"Darcy, we're having a talk tomorrow."

"About what?" She sat up on the bed and took her shoes off. He turned around to give her privacy.

"About what our friends are doing. They're playing with us, sweetheart." 

Darcy lifted the covers once she was finished getting dressed and climbed underneath. Bucky left the room and went to the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water, bringing it back to his room. He set it on the nightstand for her, "Don't forget to hydrate, or you'll have a nasty hangover in the morning. Goodnight, Darce." He kissed the crown of her head before turning around and headed for the living room. 

"Bucky?" Darcy called out. He turned and faced the room, "Yeah?" 

"You can sleep in here, I feel bad for taking your bed." 

Bucky shook his head, "You take the bed, I'll be fine out here." 

"That's not what I mean," he saw her bite her lip before continuing, "I mean you can stay in here. With me. I don't mind." 

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but she did say she didn't mind. Obviously he wasn't going to try anything with her, so he agreed. "Ok."

He quickly changed out of his clothes into something that resembled what Darcy wore and turned to climb in bed. He could see the faint blush that covered her cheeks as he realized that she watched him. He tried his best to hide his smirk. Climbing in beside her, he shifted around into a comfortable position on his back. "G'night, Darcy." She hummed in response. 

 

What the _fuck_? Her head felt like it had been smashed by Thor's hammer _repeatedly_ until it was a scrambled mess. Damn, she should have listened to Bucky. _Stay hydrated_ , he had said. _You'll have a nasty hangover_ , he had said. _Stop being a hot, protective asshole_ , she had thought. She remembered he had set out a glass of water for her, but when she tried to move to reach for it, she realized she was pressed against the mattress. Blinking a few times to actually take in her surroundings, she noticed that she was 90% covered by Bucky's body. Warm and firm, if she does say so herself. She slowly moved her head so that she could look up at his face, and her heart seemed to melt. Pouty lips and eyelashes that went on for days. Damn him. 

"Morning." He whispered, causing her to jump. How did he know she was awake? "You breathe differently when you're asleep." 

"Oh. Creepy." He chuckled before moving off of her, taking the warmth with him. "How long have you been awake?"

"Just a few minutes," he yawned and stretched, and she saw his shirt ride up a bit. Look away from the ripped abs, Darcy. "Sorry I didn't move, I was too comfortable." _That_ made her blush. 

She cleared her throat before her body reminded her that she had a skull-aching hangover. Wincing, she reached over for the glass of water and downed it within seconds. "More?" Bucky asked quietly, careful not to raise his voice too loud. She nodded her head. 

"Did you say something about talking to me? About our friends?" She lay back down on the bed, scooting over to where Bucky had been laying and took up as much warmth that was left. 

"Yeah," he called from the kitchen as he filled up the glass, "I think our friends are trying to get us together."

Darcy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But we're already together."

Bucky walked back into the room and handed her the water that she took with a thank you. "I mean, actually together. Not faking it."

The realization hit her. That explains the mysterious disappearance of her bed, and the constant banter between her and literally everyone else in the house about how her and Bucky were _just friends_. "Shit, dude. What do we do?" 

Bucky shrugged his shoulders, "They don't know we know, but I think we could have a little fun with 'em."

She raised a questioning brow. "And how do you suppose we do that?" 

"Well," he started, "we could ramp up the coupling around them. Make 'em uncomfortable. Cuddling when everyone is in the room, pet names, touching." As he listed them off, an evil smirk started to make her way across her lips. 

"Have I ever told you you're a genius?"

"Nope, but there's a first time for everything." 

And so their plan was created. From then on, they would only refer to each other in pet names, the stupider the better. When the group was gathered, excessive amounts of cuddling/touching until the team was completely uncomfortable around them. It was a perfect plan, and they were going to pay. They had to make sure the team didn't know they knew about _their_ plan, or everything would go to shit. 

The only problem they faced: neither spoke up around their true feelings for each other. And it was killing them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo this ended up being about 3,000 words. Sorry about that. Hope you guys had a nice Thanksgiving! Exams are coming up (INSERT SAD GROAN HERE) so I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, hopefully this will keep y'all busy 'til then. Thank you for the WONDERFUL comments and kudos! You're all amazing, almost 3,000 hits!!!

Once Darcy's headache subsided, thanks to Bucky's constant nagging on taking something to help her, they made their way to the common room for breakfast. Hand and hand. Unknown to the other, they each loved the way their hands seemed to fit so well together. 

Jane and Thor were up on the island, tablet next to her bowl of cereal and a newspaper in his hands. Clint, Natasha, and Bruce sat at the dining table, all three were munching on toast and nursing a glass of orange juice. Tony was probably still in his lab, but Pepper would drag him in there within a few minutes. Steve and Sam were on their morning run, due back in the next five minutes or so. 

All heads turned to Bucky and Darcy once they walked in, and they could feel everyone's eyes burning, not into their heads, but their hands. "Orange juice?" She asked him, ignoring everyone's stares. 

"Sure, doll. I'll make us some eggs, alright?" They squeezed each others hands before letting go, but as a reminder to not blow their cover. 

Everything was quiet. It made Darcy's heart seen to beat faster, which made her nervous because she was literally in a room full of people who could probably hear her heart beat no matter where they were seated. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening one of the cabinets and grabbing two glasses, making her way over to the fridge where she dug out the carton of oj. 

When Tony walked in and spotted the two, he called out, "Sleep well last night?" The smirk in his voice could be heard a mile away.

Darcy froze, forgetting that he was the reason she was missing a bed, but what Bucky said made her bite her cheek to keep from smiling. "Best sleep I've had in months, Darcy's a good cuddler." 

"I am not!" She shot back, grinning at him. "You were all but on top of me when I woke up, therefore, _you_ are the cuddler." 

"Say it anyway you want, Darcy doll, you kept me warm all night." A collective groan circled it's way through the dining area, but when Darcy looked at them, they all exchanged a secretive glance. They thought their plan was working. 

"Could you not? There's food around." Tony said, rolling his eyes. 

"We were just going to thank you, Tony. For what you did for us last night." Bucky said, as earnestly as possible. 

Tony's eyebrows furrowed, "What are you talking about?" 

Bucky wrapped an arm around Darcy's waist and pulled her closer to his side, looking down at her with his heartbreaking smile. "Well, when her bed wasn't there after we had our drinks, I let her sleep in mine, but I think you were counting on that. When I went to go sleep on the couch, though, Darcy wouldn't have that." He lifted his head so that he looked Tony straight in the eye, "So we shared. When we woke up this morning, we shared more than space in that bed. We shared our feelings with each other. We just wanted to thank you, for giving us that opportunity." 

Darcy's face went red and she felt Bucky's words make their way to the pit of her stomach. Damn, she didn’t know he was so good at bullshitting things on the spot. Must be a trained assassin thing, she guessed.

Tony just stood there, dumbfounded. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, "Well." He tried to think of something sassy, to put those two kids in their damn place. "You're welcome. As you were." 

 

After the incredibly awkward breakfast, Darcy and Bucky went back upstairs to get ready for the Stark Industries party. "What the hell do you wear to prom?" Bucky asked, sounding a little exasperated. 

"Trust me, I have no clue." Darcy told him. She never went to any of her proms, seeing as how she didn't like most of the people at her school, and the ones who she could actually tolerate didn't want to go. "Pretty sure you're suppose to wear a suit, though."

"Well, obviously." Bucky muttered, louder than he meant since Darcy had heard him. 

She turned around and narrowed her eyes at him. Bucky was spread across their bed, eyes closed, hands folded behind his head and ankles crossed. "I don't see you looking for anything to wear. You gonna go naked? That's something people do at prom, I'm sure." She turned back around as she continued to look through their clothes. 

"I got a tux, Darce. I think I'm set." After Bucky had come home to live with Steve at Avengers Tower, he was given all new clothes, ranging from extremely casual to extremely fancy. Men weren't criticized on their wardrobe as much as women were now a days. "Darcy, whatever you wear I'm sure you'll look great, but the damn thing doesn't start for a few more hours, and Stark won't have us by the neck if we're a little late." 

Sighing, Darcy turned away from the closet and walked over to the bed, falling face first into the mattress. "You're right." She muttered. "FUCK!" She hissed a few seconds later. 

"What?" Darcy flung herself off the bed and ran to the closet again. Grabbing Bucky's tux and suits, she lay them out on the bed. "What are you doing?"

"We have to match!” She fumed. “We have to match our stupid clothes, that's what they do at prom. Or is it homecoming..better safe than sorry."

"Let's do red." Bucky suggested. 

"Red?" Darcy walked back over to the closet and took out her only red dress. She'd only worn it once. Compared to her other dresses, it was more on the revealing side, which was exactly why Bucky suggested the color. 

"Yeah, I'll wear a red tie and you can wear that dress. You look beautiful in the dress, shame you haven’t worn it more." 

Darcy kept her back to him, trying not to show how much his comment affected her. She looked for shoes that would go with the dress. If Bucky wanted to play the 'make Darcy wear her most scandalous dress' game then she might as well find a pair of 'fuck me' pumps to go with it. 

"How long do we have to stay at this damn party? It's going to take all of my energy to keep up with the lie, and we can't slip around anyone without them knowing. Do we even have a game plan?" 

Bucky shrugged his shoulders, "We can try and dance most of the time so no one bothers us-"

"Dance?” Darcy interrupted. “You mean like club dancing, right? Because I don't slow dance." Darcy was more of a bump and grind type of girl. The thought of trying to slow dance made her nervous, who even knows how to properly slow dance anymore? Wasn't that for old people?

"Ok, I have no idea what that means." Bucky said. "If you don't know how to slow dance, I could teach you. I still remember a few moves from dancing back in the day."

Darcy shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "No, I'll be stepping on your toes the whole night." 

He rolled his eyes, "Them it'll be pain worth receiving. C'mon, doll. We don't have to do anything flashy, and it'll be a part of our game plan. Everyone will see us dancin', it'll be perfect." 

Darcy groaned, throwing the dress and shoes on the bed. "Fine. But if I complain about achy feet, we stop dancing. Those shoes will be the death of me." 

*-*-*-*

Bucky had gone ahead and took his shower. Darcy laid out his outfit for the night across their bed while she went into the other bathroom down the hall to take her own. She made sure to gather the makeup and hair supplies she needed before taking her own outfit into the bathroom with her. The difference between Darcy and Bucky, among other things, was that Bucky was more of a get in, get out, and finish type of guy when it came to showering. Darcy on the other hand, was not. She loved taking showers, scalding showers to be exact, which added to the many things on her list of why she’s always late. 

Once she got out and dried herself off, she began applying her makeup. Winged eyes and her signature red lips, she looked _hot_. Doing her hair was another story, blow drying it and then curling it took a little bit longer.

Bucky was once again spread out across their bed, dressed to the nines in his tux when she walked back into their(!) room. "You're wrinkling it!" She snapped, waving her hands at him to get him to fix his posture. Darcy probably would have received an eye roll from him if his eyes were the size of saucers as he looked at her. 

"Darce.. You look beautiful."

"Shut up, dude." She mumbled uncomfortably, looking down at her outfit. Darcy knew what she was working with when it came to dressing up fancy and showing herself off. The phrase ‘hour-glass figure’ comes to mind, and with the way her dress is hugging her curves, she looked damn good. But the comment from Bucky made her uncomfortable. She was use to the ‘Nice tits!’ type of comments. Being called beautiful, that was different. So she pushed it away. 

Buck was confused. Women loved to be complemented, right? Especially with the way she looked, Darcy should be showered with ‘em. “Don’t you think you nice?”

She shrugged her shoulder, “I mean, yeah, I do. It’s just- I’m not exactly use to those types of comments, is all.”

“What do people usually say to you?”

“‘Nice rack’.”

That seemed to ignite anger within Bucky. Did men these days really treat women like this? Like fucking _dogs?_ “I’ll just have to change that, then.” And he would. There was no way in hell he’s going to let anyone degrade Darcy with words like those. He just wouldn’t have it. 

She cleared her throat and nodded her head, “So what did we say the plan was?”

Bucky was still looking at her like she was a million bucks when he answered, “Dancing, drinking, and trying not to fuck up around the others.”

“Good plan.” She picked up her phone from the bedside table, “Might as well get it over with and head down, huh?”  
-*-*-*-*-

Ok, so Darcy and Bucky may hate Stark’s parties, but damn did he know style. The ballroom on the third floor in the Tower was changed from a barren over sized room to what looked like a large dance hall. Loads of streamers were hanging from the ceiling, balloons scattered around the room, and right when you walk in, there’s a camera man standing to the side of an arch. Classic. Darcy isn’t sure if any of the Avengers ever went to prom, especially Stark, given the decorations around the room were way better than what a high school would be able to afford. 

When the two had made their way around the ballroom, after getting their pictures taken, of course, they made a b-line to the bar. “Two whiskey and cokes please, make ‘em strong.” Bucky kept his right arm around Darcy, hugging her close to his side. She can’t exactly say she minded gesture. 

“You know me so well,” she told him, lightly elbowing him in the ribs. 

Bucky smirked at her, “From what I’ve seen, it helps you loosen up. Can’t stand straight as a board and not look uncomfortable, sweetheart.” 

Once they received their drinks, they chugged them down (probably landed a new record) and slowly made their way to the dance floor as a slow song began to play. Darcy tried to walk with him as slow as she could possibly manage without him noticing, but, like everything else, he did. 

“Are you still nervous about dancin’ with me?”

“Bucky..I’m going to make an ass of myself. Can we just..not?” He gave her a look. “FINE. Fine, ok. But if I step on your toes, you are not allowed to complain.”

By starting with the basics, Bucky had her doing a slow one-two step, making sure to go along with the beat of the music. Darcy quickly seemed to get the hang of dancing, much to Bucky’s surprise, and delight. With her left hand in his right, and his metal hand on the small of her back, slowly inching to her ass, their closeness felt perfect. She smelled _so_ good, and her smile that she would throw at him every once in awhile, usually when she went a long time without messing up or stepping on his toes, made his heart race. He tried to make sure his hand wasn’t sweating too much, something he never had to worry about when he danced with women before. James Barnes does not get nervous when dancing with beautiful women. He’ll leave that to Steve. But being around Darcy, so close and so intimate, made him feel things he didn’t back in the day. 

“You gonna keep sliding your hand down to grab my ass or am I going to have to cut it off?”

Her words knocked him from his thinking, “What?”

“You could have just asked.” She winked at him. His eyebrows knitted together until he saw from the corner of his eye, a small group looking right at them. Foster, Tony, and Steve were all huddled together in a group, and probably would have stayed inconspicuous to others at the party, until Bucky heard a low whistle come from the group. He felt Darcy tense. 

“Oh.” He ducked his head down so that his lips were inches from her ear, “Follow my lead.”

She didn’t have time before he continued on without her. His grip on her hand and around her waist tightened, bringing her closer to his chest than before. Darcy moved her right hand from where it was on his shoulder to around his neck. Winking at her, he bent his head back down to her, only this time, it wasn’t to whisper in her ear. 

Kissing Bucky was sort of like winning the lottery. First, you have the few seconds before it happens, where you aren't exactly sure what to do with yourself. Then, you have the moment it actually happens, and boy, was is it nice. With his pillowy lips just as soft and sweet as she imagined they would be, Darcy lost herself in the kiss. Her grip around the back of his neck tightened while her other hand got lost in his hair, tugging lightly by accident. Bucky pulled her closer against him, and she felt him release a quiet groan between his lips. 

_”Get a room!”_ They hear someone yell over the pop music playing. When did it change? Breaking apart from their kiss, Bucky licks his lips and mutters, “I think we fooled ‘em.” Darcy just nods her head, not trusting her voice enough to speak at the moment. 

“I’m gonna get a drink, you want anything?” 

“No, I’m going to sit down for a few, the dancing..it- I’m a little tired.” Bucky nodded and told her he’d meet up with her after he got his drink.

 _Fuck fuck fuck,_ Darcy thinks, _Shit, he’s a good kisser. A_ really _good kisser._

“You and Barns seem to be enjoying prom,” says a low feminine voice from behind her, causing Darcy to jump. Turning around, she sees Natasha, who is obviously gorgeous in a tight black dress and shoes that could kill.

“Yeah-uh. Yeah. That, it caught me a little off guard. I think that was the point though.”

Nat nodded her head, keeping her eyes trained on Darcy, a small, knowing smile gracing her lips. Darcy looked around her for a chair to sit in, her legs feeling like they’d give out from under her in a moment. As she did so, Bucky made his way back over to her and Natasha, greeting her. “Natalia. Having a nice night?” He looked around on the dance floor, “Clint somewhere in the mix of all those people?” He questioned her. Natasha rolled her eyes, a real smile taking place on her lips, “Unfortunately.” She looked between him and Darcy before she said, “You two have a good night. Make it count.” And she was gone. 

The two stayed silent for a few moment before Darcy spoke up, asking, “Does she know?”

Bucky shrugged, “No clue.” He grabbed a chair and sat down beside her, watching the people on the dance floor. Tony, Jane, and Steve had long dispersed from their huddled group, now nowhere to be found. Reaching over, Bucky took Darcy’s small hand in his, holding it firmly. 

The rest of the night had gone well. Darcy claimed it was her turn to take Bucky dancing, doing her bump and grind dancing that was fit for the clubs, thoroughly embarrassing him. And turning him on a bit, but she didn’t have to know that. She laughed as he tried to copy her moves, but realizing how completely ridiculous she and him looked, and shook his head and pulled her against him, grinning. The last song of the night ended up being a slow one, and one that he recognized from the movie Darcy always watched when it was on TV, something about boats and ‘Jack could have fucking fit on that damn door thing!’. Holding her close like he did during their first slow dance, they closed their eyes and swayed back and forth, staying in tune with the music. 

Once the lights came back on, they realized there were only a few people left in the ballroom. “Come on, doll. Let’s go home, bet your feet are killin’ you.”

She winced, not actually realizing the pain in her feet until he said something. Putting on her best puppy dog face, she asked him to carry her home.

“Always, sweetheart.”


	6. Chapter 6

You know how when you learn a new word, you start hearing it everywhere? That's what Darcy and Bucky felt like, but without the newly learned word, but instead, seeing couples kiss. 

Now, Darcy couldn't give two shits about PDA. It didn't make her uncomfortable, she'd be doing the same thing if she had a partner. But that's the thing; she does, in a matter of speaking. 

It's Pepper and Tony after breakfast when she's saying goodbye to him to go off and run Stark Industries. It's Thor and Jane when he's taking care of her after she finally finishes working on one of her projects and is on the verge of passing out because of sleep deprivation. It's even Clint and Natasha while they're watching some stupid rerun of their favorite show, though they caught her watching them and was thoroughly threatened and told to never speak of what she saw. But she did see it, dammit. She saw all of them, everywhere. All of the little things each of them did, small kisses or touches.

And she was jealous. 

She groaned after watching Thor place a tender kiss on Janes head, who was leaning on him, completely passed out. "You guys are adorable. What the hell." 

Thor looked up at her, smiling at her before arranging Jane so that she wouldn't get a kink in her neck from the position she fell asleep in. He brought his attention back to her, though his gaze held something she could quite place, "What troubles you, Darcy?" 

"You guys are adorable. Everyone is adorable." 

"Do you and James not show affection like this with each other?" She blushed at the question, and Thor's grin widened. "It is only the beginning of your relationship, as time passes I'm sure you both will be doing the same." 

Darcy shrugged, "I guess." But that wasn't the problem she was having. They both showed plenty of couple-y actions around their friends, but behind closed doors, they kept their distance. After the 'Prom' Stark Industries party, Bucky started leaving their apartment before she woke up. At first she thought it was just him waking up to go to the gym, but when she got up and went to look for him, he wasn't there. Sometimes he'd be in the common room, watching the news with Sam and Steve. Other times he'd be reading the paper in Banner's lab, saying it was the quietest place for him to be able to read properly, and Bruce didn't seem to mind. When she asked him why he didn't sleep in, he'd change the subject. But she knew something had changed that night at the party, and she wasn't exactly sure what it was. 

 

Currently, she was, sprawled out across her and Bucky's bed. _Find Bucky, or sleep for a few more hours_ , that was what she was currently deciding between. Sleep ended up winning. It was Saturday, sue her. But it was hard for her to stay asleep, though. Her mind wouldn't shut the hell up. 

_Is he upset with me?_

_Why doesn't he stay in bed longer?_

_He didn't use to have a problem being so close to me, was it the kiss?_

_Well, if he had a problem, it wasn't my fault. He's the idiot who started it!_

_He's a really good kisser.._

Darcy groaned, trying to silence her thoughts and shoved her head under her pillow. 

-*-*-*-*-

"Darcy still asleep?" 

Bucky took his eyes off the days newspaper to look over at Banner, who was sitting on a stool looking into a microscope. "Yeah, if she wanted to, she could probably sleep for an entire day." 

"How come you aren't still there with her? 8am is still pretty early to be up on a Saturday." He switched out one glass slide and replaced it with another, writing down notes. 

"Can only sleep for so long before the dreams catch up to me. I don't usually need much sleep to get by, I guess that's one of the things Steve and I have in common. 'Cept he runs while I read the paper." 

Bruce looked up from his work and gave Bucky a questioning look, "What do you mean your dreams catch up to you?" 

Damn. He was hoping he wouldn't catch on to that. "I dunno," Rubbing the back of his neck, he set the newspaper down on his lap, "Past few months I've gone without having a nightmare, but when I was with Darcy the night Stark took her bed, I woke up from one. It wasn't bad enough that I'd moved around, but I knew I couldn't be sleeping in the same bed with her if I was going to have those dreams again. So it was either sleep on the couch and get more than 5 hours, or share the bed and wake up before I can cause any harm."

"So you're afraid of hurting her in your sleep." It wasn't a question, the way he put it. It was a statement.

Bucky sighed, "Can we not talk about this?" He got up from his seat, folded the newspaper and shoved it under his arm. Before he left the lab, he turned around and said, "Thanks, for letting me stay here. It's not quiet enough in the common room, and it's too quiet in the library Stark has." 

Bruce nodded his head and gave him a small smile. When Bucky was about to walk out, Bruce spoke up and told him, "You should tell her. Why you aren't there when she wakes up. If you don't, she might think she's done something wrong." He turned back to his work. 

-*-*-*-

"Darcy! Can you run these papers to Dr. Banner? Someone dropped them off here, he might have something of mine." 

After trying, and failing miserably, to gain a few extra hours of sleep, she ended up going into Jane's lab a few minutes earlier than usual. And by few, she means half an hour. 

"No probs." She walked over, took the folder from Jane's hands, and made her way to the elevator. The medical lab was only a floor above Jane's, but the stairs were for another day. 

That day might actually come sooner than planned, seeing as how Bucky was waiting out front of the elevator. "Oh." He said once he saw her. "Why are you on the medical floor?"

"Why are _you_ on the medical floor?" She shot back, noticing the crumpled newspaper under his arm. "You know there's a library, normally people like to go there to read. Though I guess a medical lab would be much more comfortable to read in." 

Bucky huffed out a humorless laugh, "Library's too quiet, my mind is too loud. Hard for me to concentrate. That make more sense to you?" He pushed past her and stepped into the elevator, punching their resident floor number. 

She grimaced at his tone and the realization of what she said, "Sorry.." 

Bucky looked away from her, the doors closing and ending their conversation. Fuck, now they really had to talk. 

She turned back around and made her way to Dr. Banner's lab. Perched on a stool, nose buried in his notes, Bruce looked up and smiled at her. "Did Jane get something of mine?" 

Darcy nodded, "Yeah, she wanted to know if you got a folder for her, she thought something might have gotten switched up." 

Getting up from his seat, Bruce grabbed a Manila folder that looked like it was packed to full folder capacity and walked back over to where she was standing. "Usually they don't have this much information in them, I was a little worried. Thank you, for bringing this over. I meant to do the same earlier but.."

Darcy shrugged her shoulder, "It's no problem, this just gives me something to do." She went to turn around and leave, but instead asked, "How often does Bucky come in here?" 

"Almost everyday. Same time, reads the paper, and leaves when he's finished. Why?" 

She shakes her head, looked at the folder in her arms, "He's never there when I wake up anymore. Hasn't been since Stark's last party."

"Do you feel like you've done something wrong?" She nods. Bruce took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes before continuing. "Darcy, do you ever talk to James about these things?" 

"No," she laughs, "He blows me off. Changes the subject. I don't want to force him to talk to me, it'll just push him away." 

"Maybe you should try again, soon. Ask him, and don't let him change the subject. If there's anyone who can get through to him, if not Steve, it's you. You are his partner." The way Bruce had said the last part, like he saw right through her and Bucky's façade, made her eyes go wide. 

"Do you kno-"

"Go. Take that folder to Jane and fix things with James. Have a nice day, Darcy." He smiled and turned back to his work, taking notes as if she wasn't there. Damn, he was good. 

Taking the elevator ride back down to Jane's lab, dropping off the folder and telling her she needs to speak to Bucky real quick and that she'd be back in a few, she raced back to the elevator. She asked JARVIS where Bucky was, and had him take her up to the residential floors. 

"Thanks, J."

Once she walked inside the apartment, she saw Bucky slumped on the couch. The news was on, but he didn’t really seem to be paying any attention to what was happening on the screen. When she closed the door, his eyes shifted over to where she was standing, but quickly went back to the tv screen. Taking a deep breath, Darcy slowly walked over to the opposite side of the couch and sat down, facing him. “Bucky-”

“Don’t.” He interrupted, closing his eyes. 

“We need to talk, Bucky. We haven’t been clicking lately. Did I do something wrong?” He shook his head. “Then tell me why you keep avoiding me.”

“I don’t want to talk about this, Darcy.” He opened his eyes and looked at her, “ I’m fine, _we’re_ fine.” 

“We aren’t fine, Bucky! We haven’t been fine since Stark’s party. What is it? Is it this stupid marriage thing? If it is, we can end it. I don’t want to lose your friendship because of some inheritance money that I honestly don’t even need.”

Bucky huffed, and rose from the couch, “It isn’t that. It isn’t anything.” He started to walk to the door to leave, but Darcy shot up from her seat and stood in front of the door, blocking it. “Move.” 

“No.” Arms spread out as far as they could go, she did her best to block the entire door. She wasn’t stupid. Darcy understood that if Bucky really wanted to get out, he could do it.

“ _Move.”_

“Make me.” She snapped. 

There were a few emotions that crossed over his features before he made his move. First was anger. He balled and unballed his fists, clenched his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut. Next was what Darcy liked to call ‘Soldier’. When he acted like this, he crossed his arms across his chest, and planted his feet shoulder length apart. He spoke quietly, but with a hint of menace in his tone, “I’m not going to ask you again, Darcy. I don’t want to talk right now. Move.” 

“No.” 

The final emotion she saw? That one surprised her the most. She never saw it unless they were around the group, usually in the common room or kitchen, or really anywhere that someone was watching. But here? Right now? Lust was the last thing she was expecting. 

His eyes darkened and slowly stalked his way towards her. Darcy’s breath hitched, but she tried to maintain her position, but now that she thinks about, being spread out across the door might not be the best position she could be in. He closed in on her, and with his left hand threading into her hair, his right wound around her waist, he pulled her flush up against him. Placing soft kisses down the column down her throat, he whispered to her, “Sometimes you get me so worked up, Darcy.” When he leaned his head back to look at her face, she muttered, “Maybe I’m just waiting to see what you’ll do.” That got a smile out of him. 

“I guess I’ll have to show you, then.” Darcy shuddered, her eyes slowly closing at his words. He resumed his journey of kisses from her collarbone, along her jawline, and then on the corner of her mouth. She groaned, “Don’t tease, it’s not nice.” 

The kiss itself wasn’t soft, sweet. It was rough, teeth clashing, _hungry_. They both had wanted more since their first kiss at Stark’s party. But even before that, they each shared a common need for each other, but neither spoke up. Until now. Deciding that if things between them might not be the same after, well, whatever is happening here, then she’s just going to have to make the best of it. Biting Bucky’s bottom lip, she pressed her tongue between his lips when he opened his mouth to let out a groan. He pulled her body closer to his, feeling Darcy arch into him. She gave up with trying to block the door and tangled her hands into his hair, slightly pulling. But the moment slowly ended, Darcy needing to breath and keep her heart from jumping out of her chest. That only gave Bucky the smart idea to pick her up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist, and walk the two of them back over to the couch. He sat down, keeping Darcy on his lap, straddling him. 

“Ok,” He said to her, “Now we can talk.” He waited for her to speak up, or remember what she wanted to talk to him about, whichever came first. 

“Bucky, why haven’t you been sleeping in with me? You can’t tell me its because you can’t go back to sleep, because I know that’s not true. You and Steve may have a few things in common because of the serums, but the amount of sleep the two of you can get in one night has always been different.” 

“Darce, it’s not you. God, I wish I could sleep in with you, but I can’t.” 

“But _why_. What’s keeping you away from staying with me?” 

“Sweetheart,” Bucky whispered, brushing a few stray hairs behind her ear, “I- I get nightmares, or they’re old memories, I’m not too sure. They’re from when I wasn’t myself, when I was the Soldier. I get these… memories, different missions I was assigned. They’re never good.” He sighed and reached for her hand, holding it tight in his right hand, “Darcy, I’m afraid of hurting you, in my sleep. I couldn’t live with myself if I lashed out at you.” 

“Well...when was the last time you had a good nights rest and didn’t have a nightmare?” When Darcy had nightmares, she would usually wake up crying, her dreams consisting of all of the horrible things that could have happened in New Mexico, or the destruction in New York. But what Bucky dreamed about? They were memories, things that he actually did. She couldn’t imagine what he must feel like, going through those terrible things that he was forced to do _again_. 

“Since before we started this thing? When you first moved in, I wasn’t scared of anything happening, your room was too far away for you to hear anything. But they never came, except the night Tony took your bed and you slept in with me.” She looked at him, upset, but he continued, “It wasn’t because of you, Certain things trigger my nightmares, I’ve never had someone sleep in the same bed as me, Darce. Not anyone I can remember, anyway.” 

“Maybe we can fix it then.” Buckys eyebrows scrunched together, unsure of what she meant, so she elaborated, “We can get an early nights rest, and instead of waking up at the asscrack of dawn, stay with me.” 

“Darcy..” He said unsurely. 

She placed her hands on his shoulders, giving a tight squeeze, “Please, Bucky.” 

He gave her a hard look, but he gave in. “Fine, we’ll try it.” He quickly stood up, cradling a giggly Darcy in his arms, and walked them to their bedroom, “Might as well get an early start.” 

Once he stepped into the room, he dropped Darcy off on the bed and watched her laugh as she rolled around to get comfortable. When he didn’t move from where he was standing, she asked him, “What’s up, dude? Something else on your mind?” 

He bit his lip, unsure how to phrase what he wanted to say correctly. When nothing came to mind, he blurted, “What are we? I mean, what are we really?” 

She sat up, crisscrossed her legs, and looked down at her hands. Shrugging her shoulders, she mumbled, “I dunno.” When she looked back up at her, he was mirroring her nervous body language. “After that kiss, Buck, I don’t want to go back to being just friends..” 

“Thank God.” He said, and playfully tackled her onto her back. With her hands above her head, and Bucky’s knee between her legs, Darcy wasn’t sure she could be in a better position. Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, Bucky rolled over on his side, pulling her against his chest. “We can figure out our ‘status’ tomorrow. I’m beat.” 

Darcy scoffed, “You and I both know you’re as riled up as I am, bud.” He didn’t respond, but instead kissed the crown of her head. 

They kicked off their shoes, stripped down to a t-shirt and underwear, and got comfortable under the covers. “G’night, Darce.” She hummed in reply. 

It was around midnight when she heard it, quiet whimpering coming from behind her. Darcy lifted her head and saw Bucky’s back facing her, shaking. She scooted closer to him, but didn’t touch him, "Bucky.." She whispered, but he didn't seem to hear her. 

She got out of bed and walked around to his side, bending down so that she was level with him. "Bucky," she tried again, "Wake up. You're ok, you're fine." Darcy reached out to touch his face, which was probably a really bad idea. Once her hand made contact with his cheek, his eyes snapped open, and his metal arm snatched her wrist. "OW! Bucky!" She grabbed at his hand to get him to let go, but it was no use. He squeezed harder, causing her to cry out even louder. "Bucky stop! Please!" 

"Вы не можете мне больно больше!" He roared at her, his eyes full of hatred and focused completely on her. He squeezed her wrist tighter before shoving her off him and onto the ground next to the bed. 

Hitting the floor and clutching her wrist to her chest, she saw him get up from the bed and make his way towards her. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurt/comfort, sorry about that cliffhanger (not really), just gotta keep y'all on your toes. Hope you don't mind the longish chapters? I like having more to write in each one, even if it takes me a week to post them. Thanks again for the kudos and comments!

Darcy has never feared Bucky. She likes to think that he can have his angry moments, whether they be yelling that he's tired of being the one to pull hair out of their bathtub drain or never having enough beer in the apartment fridge. Those are things anyone can be upset about, it's nothing out of the ordinary. But the man who stalked towards her, it wasn't Bucky. He had a dead look him his eyes, his posture looked as if he was a second away from attacking. There was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn't have done just that if their bedroom door hadn't crashed open. 

" _BUCKY!_ " Steve was standing in the doorway of their bedroom, his eyes focused on Bucky. "Stand down." He lowered his voice, keeping eye contact with him. Blinking his eyes a few times, Bucky finally looked at him and grumbled, "The hell are you doing in my room, Steve?" 

Letting out a quiet whimper, Darcy caught his attention. "Doll? God, Darcy what happened?" He tried to get closer to her, to make sure she was alright, but she shook her head and moved away from him. "Darce?" He asked, his voice cracking. 

"I can't.." She whispered. Steve moved into the room, whispered something to Bucky before he walked over and picked her up bridal style in his arms. She wound her uninjured arm around his neck, and hid her face in the crook of his collarbone. 

"Shh, you're alright Darcy." Steve assured her as he carried her out of the apartment. She didn't realize she was crying until she lifted her head from his neck, seeing the damp part of his shirt. "Sorry." She mumbled apologetically. 

Steve held onto her a little bit tighter as he walked them to the elevators, "You're fine, sweetheart. I'm going to take you to Bruce, make sure you aren't hurt too bad." 

"I don't even know what happened.. I mean, one second I'm trying to wake him up, then I'm on the floor and my wrist feels like it's on _fire_." Darcy hadn’t been thinking clearly when she tried to wake Bucky up, who would be so early in the morning? She had heard stories about people with PTSD and the nightmares they get. Bucky had even told her that he dreams about the frightening things he was forced to do, and to wake him up? She shouldn’t have been so _stupid_.

When they left the elevator once it arrived on the lab floor, Steve quickly walked her over to Dr. Banner, where he motioned Steve to set her down on one of the tables. Bruce walked up to her, gave her a sad smile and asked her what happened. 

“I woke up to him shaking in bed, I tried to wake him up, talk to him so he’d just wake up, but it wasn’t working. I got up and went to his side of the bed and tried to touch his cheek, but his hand grabbed my wrist.” She looked down at her swollen hand, bruise marks taking shape of his fingers started to show up on her fair skin. Darcy looked up at the two men, “It wasn’t him,” She insisted, “It wasn’t Bucky. The way he looked at me- it was like he didn’t recognize me. I’ve never been afraid of Bucky.. but tonight..” She couldn’t finish. The thought of saying that she feared him made her feel like she was a worthless friend. 

This wasn’t going to change anything between the two of them, she’d make damn sure of that. They’ve hit a rough patch, and she’s sure a shit Bucky’s going to put up a fight, but she’ll fix it on her own if that’s what it’ll take. 

 

Bruce told her that nothing was broken, just bruised. Telling her to alternate hot and cold compresses on her wrist, Steve helped Darcy from the table and took her back to her room. 

"He probably won't be there when we get back, Darce."

Yawning, Darcy nodded her head and rubbed her eyes. "Figured." If she knew Bucky, he was probably working out in the gym, something to keep his mind off of what happened. "I'm going to have to kick his ass to get him to talk to me, aren't I?"

Steve looked down at her and smiled, "Probably. We'll get through this, get him the help he needs." 

The two walked back to her and Bucky's apartment, Steve telling her that if she needs anything, call him. She nodded her head and said good night. Climbing in bed, an empty bed, didn't feel right. It felt too big without Bucky there. _Typical,_ she thought bitterly to herself, _he tells me he has feelings for me and I go and fuck it up. Only me._ With that thought, she drifted off to sleep. 

-*-*-*-*-

"JARVIS, where is James?" 

"On the roof, Agent Romanoff. Would you like me to contact him for you?" 

"I got it." 

Natasha had heard what went down not too long ago. At 8am, she usually saw James in Banners lab, but today he was nowhere to be found. The roof wasn't the nicest place to be when it was nearing Christmas time and the wind of New York made her bones chill to the core, it was the last place anyone would want to be. Which is exactly why he was up there. 

"Aren't you cold up here?" 

Bucky, who was overlooking the city, huffed out, "Better than Russia this time of year." 

She smiled. Russian winters were no joking matter, but the temperature in the city had nothing on what they had been through. "I'm sure it's warmer. Inside. With your girl friend."

"Natalia.." Bucky had started, but she wouldn't let him talk his way out of this one. 

"James, she doesn't blame you. If anything, she wants to help you-"

"Help me with what?" He questioned her, "Help me not kill her in my fucking sleep? Do you know what I did? God, I could have broken her wrist if Steve hadn't come.."

"Which is why we want to help you." Bucky looked over at her. He didn't interrupt her, so she continued. "James, you're suffering from PTSD. We all are, different forms, but all the same. And you know what helps?" He shook his head. "Therapy. Talking to someone."

“You go to therapy?” Natasha nodded her head. “And what, the therapist hasn’t left screaming after one of your sessions?”

“That’s classified.” She smirked, raising an eyebrow. 

Bucky rolled his eyes, of course she was ignoring his question. “I ain’t crazy, Nat. I don’t need someone to tell me I’m fucked up. I already know.”

“If you think therapy is just you being labeled as crazy then I guess you’re more ignorant that I thought you were.” 

“Ignorant, huh?” He turned around and gave her his full attention. That’s what she wanted, to get a rise out of him. It was the only way she could get him to tell her how he was really feeling. But the thing was, he _wanted_ to tell her, someone, how he was fucking feeling. “You know what we did, Natalia? I finally told her how I really felt. How I hated just being friends with her and- God, Nat, she felt the same way! I told her about my nightmares, and she insisted on me staying with her through the night. I agreed.”

“That’s when she woke you up? During one of your nightmares?”

He nodded his head, closing his eyes. He knew how Natasha would be looking at him, like he should have known better. He _did_ know better. “She got hurt. By me. I don’t even remember touching her..”

“James, you need counseling,” she urged, “It’ll help you. You’ll see a difference, everyone may be different when going through therapy, but you’ll see the changes." Natasha's voice changed from soft to a more athorative tone, "If you don’t receive counseling, you'll be excluded from upcoming missions until you make the appointments. This could potentially harm the rest of the team, we need to try something to help you get better.”

He groaned, rubbing his hands down his face. The cold metal of his hand sent shivers through him, causing him to wonder why he was still outside. “When do I start?”

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

When Darcy woke up for the second time that morning, she wasn’t expecting a red headed assassin to be lounging on her sofa reading one of her Cosmo magazines. “Catching up on the many ways to give your guy a better blowjob?” Darcy asked while making her way to the coffee machine in the kitchen. She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised by the quiet chuckle she managed to get out of Natasha or the lack of punches received from asking her a question like that. 

“Trust me, I don’t need to catch up on anything like that. Clint’s quite satisfied.” Closing the magazine, Natasha rose from the couch and followed Darcy into the kitchen, sitting on the island counter. 

“Are you here for girl talk or is this strictly about Barton? ‘Cause if it’s the latter, I’m not sure I can provide any sexy-time experiences that included him.” 

“You know why I’m here.” Guess she’s getting right to the chase, then.

“I haven’t seen him. Jarvis won’t tell me where he is, though I guess that’s for the better, and even if I did, I don’t think he wants to see me right now.” Tearing open a few (too many) sugar packets and added them to her cup of coffee, Darcy had trouble keeping a small smile off of her face. Bucky didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, thought her ritual of adding way too much sugar to her coffee was ‘honestly the grossest thing you could possibly do to your coffee how are you even drinking that’, but he picked on her to make her laugh.

“That isn’t why I’m here.” Darcy finally looked up at her, confusion crossing her features. “James agreed to start therapy sessions. All of us, in the team, have been having sessions of our own. It helps, for the most part, and I think it’ll help you guys.”

Darcy nodded her head, processing what she was being told, and took a sip of her coffee. “Did you talk to him today?” 

“Yes.”

“How did he seem?”

Natasha shrugged her shoulder, “Off. He was upset that he hurt you, but he’s worried about how your relationship is going to be affected.” 

Darcy shook her head and closed her eyes. “He shouldn’t be worried at all. It won’t change. I lo-” she cleared her throat, “I care about him. I’m glad he’s getting help, Steve said that he was going to help him with that. But I’m here for him, that won’t change.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she thought _fuck it_ and hugged Natasha. She was glad the hug was returned. “What do I do, Nat? I need to talk to him, let him know I don’t hate him.” Natasha didn’t say anything, but rubbed her back, trying her best to sooth her.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Darcy stayed cooped up in the apartment for the rest of the day, not bothering to go down for dinner. She could manage to feed herself properly with what her and Bucky had stashed in their kitchen. She liked to think she stayed inside to be alone and think things through, but in reality, she wanted to see if Bucky would come home. She missed him. 

After about three hours of reruns of Friends, she heard the door unlock and open. She froze. When she heard the scuffling of boots and a jacket being taken off, she slowly sat up on the couch to look at him. He kept his head down, focused on stripping his heavy clothing, and also making sure to not make eye contact with Darcy. She knew he needed to talk to her, to make the first move, but it was hard not to say something. 

When Bucky finally looked up at her, his eyes full of regret and sorrow, she couldn’t help but roll off the couch and run over to him, catching him is a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, doll.” He whispered, feeling a slight knot in his throat. “I never meant to hurt you-”

“I know,” Darcy assured him, “I know, Buck. You weren’t ready, I shouldn’t have forced you you stay. You knew something like this could happen but I forced you-”

“You didn’t force me to do anything, Darcy.” Bucky pulled away, keeping her at arms length and looked at her. “I should have said no, but I didn’t. Natasha, she said that therapy might help me, with the nightmares.”

"It will," Darcy agreed, "And it's nothing to be ashamed of, Bucky. I'll be there with you, every step. I'll help you get through this, we're a team, dude."

Bucky smiled. She was right, like always. Darcy was going to be with him, help him get through whatever shitty things come his way, because they are a team, and he was so grateful to have her. Lifting his hand to her cheek, Bucky leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers, making sure she knew just how lucky he was to have her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a harassment trigger, nothing too bad, but I just wanted to warn anyone who might get uncomfortable. Thank you for the comments! Trust me, the last thing I wanted to go was drag out Bucky refusing to get help, come on people, we've all read enough of those. Anyway, I'll be getting back on track by the next chapter since I finally know where I'm going with the story.

8 am had changed for Bucky. Instead of rolling out of bed, giving Darcy a quick kiss on her forehead, and leaving for Dr. Banner's lab, he was now spread out across his living room couch with the news channel turned low enough so that it doesn't disturb Darcy, who had been in and out of sleep since he woke her up and was now laying on top of him. He wouldn't have dragged her out of bed like this, but she insisted. 

Bucky's first therapy session was that morning, and he was willing to bet that was the reason Darcy wanted to be with him. He had talked to the others on the team, asked them questions about how their sessions usually went, how long they had been receiving therapy for, and if going actually made a difference in their lives. So far, the answers were: 

'Therapy is good, hate how nervous I get before I go, though.'(Steve) 

'Pepper practically dragged me, you know, the whole "fly missile into space portal and almost-sort-of-die" thing freaked her out. And then, few months later? Kept having panic attacks, they suck _a lot_ , I do not recommend those. So yeah, I've been going for awhile.'(Stark)

'Stopped me from trying to kill Clint when he'd stay the night. Yeah, you aren't the first person to almost kill your partner in their sleep. But...I have been getting better because of the therapy, it's what it's there for, to help. Stop asking everyone questions, you'll find out what it's like soon enough, идиот.'(Natalia) 

So that's what he's been trying to do, keep his wandering mind from thinking about all the negatives that could come out of the therapy, and instead, focusing on how to keep the blood in his body from heading south. Darcy's weight on top of him was really starting to distract him, their current arrangement being the closest they had been so far, physically speaking. As if she had read his mind, she moved around so that her legs straddled his body, one on either side of his waist. She was still asleep. 

Current Baseball stats, Darcy's questionable television choices, and what was on the news were the only things keeping him from tearing Darcy's clothes off with his _teeth_. At least until he heard her soft voice ask him, “Are you nervous?”

“Alittle.” He admitted. She was just as worried about how his first appointment would go today, she was never this quiet, not even in the morning. 

“If you don’t feel ready you could probably reschedule-” She began, lifting her head to look at him with a hint of worry before he stopped her.

“Darcy,” Bucky smiled, wrapping his arms around her, holding her close (NOT helping down south, Barnes), “I’ll be fine, doll. You don’t have to worry about me. Besides, the team was serious about not letting me go on any missions until I’ve started my therapy sessions, and I have one with Steve in a week or so, I don’t want to get booted just because I didn’t want to go talk about my feelings. If you do want something to worry about though..” Sitting up from where him and Darcy had been sprawled out across the couch, he lifted her into his arms and carried her giggling body back to their bedroom.

“You have something up your sleeve, Bucky?” She questioned him after he set her down on the bed. Watching him go through their closet and taking out one of his nice suits, Darcy couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. 

He turned back around, gave her a quick wink, and carefully folded the suit into a duffel bag. “7 pm. You and me. We’re going to do this thing properly.” Before Darcy could ask him what thing he was talking about or where they were even going, Bucky’s phone alarm went off. She saw his shoulders go tense before relaxing just as quickly, and reached in his pocket to turn it off. “Guess I gotta head out soon.”

Darcy got up from the bed to give him a hug, doing her best to comfort him. "Mind if I walk with you?"

"I'd be offended if you didn't." 

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

After giving her a quick kiss goodbye, Bucky knocked on one of the office doors located down the hall from Banner's lab. He'd never been this far down on the lab flood before, didn't know there was anyone down there. When he heard a "Come in!", he did just that and walked inside. 

It was the opposite of what he was expecting. From what people back in his time thought about people seeking help for mental problems, he wouldn't have been surprised to see two guards dressed in white, one with a huge needle with a questionable substance inside and the other holding a straitjacket. But that's not at all what he saw.

The room had an beach-like feel to it, the walls were a warm tan color, decorated with blue and green sea animals, and the smell of the room was almost comforting. The therapist also seemed the opposite to what he was expecting. Instead of an old grey haired man, it was an indian woman, 5'5 height, slender frame, dark chocolate hair, striking green eyes and looked to be in her late forties to early fifties. 

"Shocked?" She asked him, a hint of a smile playing in her lips. 

"You could say that."

"Please," she motioned for him to come inside her office, "Take a seat." He remembered where he was, halfway in and half way out of the door, standing like an idiot. 

Her office was quite big, the wall behind her was completely made of glass, the view was amazing, the skyline of New York. He took a seat on a chair that looked something like a couch. 

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Barnes. My name is Doctor Reyes." 

"You the only therapist around here?" Bucky asked, not meaning for it to come out as harshly as it did. 

She didn't seem phased, probably used to it since she deals with Stark on a regular basis. "Psychiatrist," she corrected, and when she saw Bucky's eyebrows scrunch in confusion, she continued, "Everyone seems to get them confused, but I can prescribe medication, if necessary." 

Bucky nodded his head, "So what am I suppose to do here? Tell you my darkest secrets and get meds in return?" Where was this hostility coming from? He was fine a few minutes ago. He sighed and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I'm just kind of nervous." 

"As you should be, you've never done something like this before, Mr. Barnes. It's only natural for you to become defensive when out of your comfort zone." 

"Well, I guess for starters, you can call me James, doc." She smiled. _One step at a time, Barnes._

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

_Need u 2 come to my place STAT_

_JF: R u ok? Do u need thor? Working on science, cant stop. R u ok??_

_NR: Date night tonight?_

It was odd how fitting their messages actually were. While Jane was making sure Darcy was alright, Natasha already knew why she was needed. She would have to have a talk with her about spying on her and Bucky. 

_Need ur opinion on clothes_ -

There was already a knock on her door before she even sent out her message. Getting up from the bed and padding over to the front door, she was greeted with the redhead she had called for. "Thank god." Darcy breathed, and stepped out of the way to let the women in. 

"Do you know where James is taking you?" Darcy shook her head no.

"What type of shoes are you wearing?" She shrugged her shoulders.

“Do you know what you’re wearing?”

“Nat!” Darcy groaned, rubbing her temples, “I have no clue where he’s taking me, he never told me. I don’t know if its fancy or not but he took a suit with him before he left, and I have no clue what I’m wearing- Did you bring those heels for me?”

Natasha smiled and nodded her head, handing over the shoes to Darcy. “They go with everything, and I know we’re the same shoes size. I brought them in case you wanted to try them on.”

Darcy sighed, “You’re the best.” She stayed quiet for a few seconds, figuring out how to phrase what she wanted to say before blurting out, “Do you know about me and Bucky?”

Natasha tilted her head to the side, “Know about what?” Darcy groaned, causing her to smile. “Oh you mean yours and James’ ‘smart plan’ to fool everyone into thinking you’ve finally found each other? Then yes, I do.”

“Who else knows?”

“Just me and Banner. You didn’t hear this from me, but there may be a bet going around on how quickly the two of you will get hitched.”

Darcy raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? What are those bets saying?”

“Surprisingly, everyone thinks you’ll get married by Valentines Day.”

“You’re joking.”

Nat shook her head, “Nope. Everyone thinks Barnes is a hopeless romantic, which he is, but I don’t think he’ll last that long.”

“Wait,” Darcy chuckled disbelievingly, “You think he’s going to ask me sooner? It’s almost Christmas! February is only like, two months away!” 

The spy touched the tip of her finger to her nose, “Exactly. Anyway, I thought I was here to help you pick out something to wear?”

Darcy, with the help of her lady-friend, decided on her favorite black dress. The way it fit her curves in all the right places, making her ass look on point and the v-cut making her best assets look incredible. If Bucky could keep his eyes on her’s throughout the rest of the night, she’ll just have to reward him. Borrowing the pair of heels from Natasha and wearing her best (and only!) pair of black thigh high stockings, Darcy had to admit: she looked awesome. 

After the Natasha left, giving her a ‘Good luck’ and ‘Don’t be too loud when you come home’, Darcy heard her phone go off. Reading over the text from Bucky, he told her to meet him on the 5th floor of the Tower in ten minutes. She grabbed her purse from its place of the back of the living room couch, checked her hair and makeup, and was out the door. She could be early, what’s the big deal?

 

The big deal ended up being a huge deal when a thirty-something semi-well dressed ‘I swear I’m not married even though I have this weird tan line on my ring finger but that shouldn’t matter to you because, damn, I have so much money, let me take you home with me baby’ creep wouldn’t leave her alone. That was the big deal. 

Stark tower, or as it’s called by the public, the Avengers tower, has the first five floors open for use of other businesses. Whether they be companies using the ballroom for company gallas, an end of the year party, or ‘We made over two million dollars this year, that calls for a party!’ event going on. Darcy wasn’t sure if she should be pissed that she crashed some random company party on accident, or the fact that Bucky was ten minutes late to their damn date, or this asshole who can’t keep his eyes from her chest. From how close the dude was standing she could tell, _smell_ , that he’s been drinking quite a lot already. The way he was looking at her made her stomach churn. 

“Never seen you ‘round before, you work for Stark? If I knew he had women who looked like you walking around the building, I’d’ve dropped my job in a second.” He chattered, trying to be sexy, or something like that, but ended up looking pathetic and pink-cheeked. Yeah, totally drunk.

Darcy rolled her eyes and snarked, “If you think you’re complimenting me, then buddy, you need to catch up on how you talk to women.”

The man narrowed his eyes at her, “It was a fucking compliment, bitch. Don’t act all sophisticated, I don’t see anyone else trying to talk to you, guess they’d have to be drunk to want to be around you.”

Yup, that was enough for one night. Without even replying to his comment, Darcy stood up, threw a few bills on the bar, and turned to leave. She pulled out her phone to check the time. _Thirty minutes late?_ Fuck that, she wasn’t waiting anymore. When she turned the corner to make her way to the private elevators, she heard uneven footsteps coming from behind her. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw the wasted dude stumbling after her, demanding her to stop and talk to him.

“JARVIS, please open the elevators for me,” Darcy hissed out, picking up speed and jogged as fast as she could (In heels? Yeah right) to the doors, “And don’t let this guy in there with me.”

When she saw the elevator doors open, a sharply dressed Bucky Barnes began to step out. He smiled at her sheepishly, but when he saw the out of breath look on her face and the drunk shuffling behind her, his face slid into a cold, hard stare. Darcy quickly maneuvered her way around him, shielding herself away while Bucky stood his ground. 

“Can I help you, sir?” Bucky barked out, getting the man’s attention. 

“Yeah!” He snapped. “That bitch led me on, and she gets up and leaves after I giver her a fucking compliment, she needs to be taught a lesson, you know what I mean?”

Darcy sees Bucky’s fists clench and shoulders flex from under his dress shirt. Putting a hand on his back she whispered, “He’s drunk, Buck.”

“He’s threatening you, Darcy. I ain’t lettin’ him get away with that.” Bucky, pushing Darcy further towards the elevator doors, stalks his way towards the man, who at first looks as if Bucky is coming over to join him, but soon realizes he’s the prey. Backing up, the man begins to shake his head in confusion, “No, man. She’s the one to go after! She was teasing me! That bitch was asking for it-”

“Bucky!” Darcy screams as his flesh hand makes contact with the side of the guy’s jaw. She could tell he hadn’t even used half his strength, only trying to scare the man. 

“Fuck you, man!” He spit out, “If she didn’t want me coming up and talking to her, she shouldn’t have dressed like a whor-” This time, Bucky didn’t throw a punch. Instead, he easily pick the guy up by his suit collar and slammed him against the nearest wall.

“You don’t _look_ at her, you don’t _talk_ to her, and you won’t ever _think_ about treating another woman like that _ever again_. Am I being clear?” Bucky seethed, waiting for the man’s reply. Once he got it, Bucky let go and stepped away, watching the drunk fall to his knees before scrambling to get up and stumble away from him. 

Once he was out of sight, Bucky looked back over to where Darcy was standing, wide-eyed and still. His heart dropped. He never meant to frighten her, just the guy who was harassing her. Slowly making his way back over to her, eyes glued to the floor until he stood in front of her, they finally made eye contact.

“Darce-” He began, but was quickly interrupted. 

“That was so _hot_ ,” She breathed out before quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, this is my favorite chapter I've written. I wrote and rewrote it three different times, this one was the best.

Darcy wasn’t sure who pressed their floor number once they fell into the elevator together, she didn’t remember who unlocked their front door once they made it to their apartment, all she was sure of was that Bucky was really hot when he got protective over her and that she _couldn’t stop kissing him_. His lips were just as soft as they usually were, having a sweet taste to them that made her hungry for more. The firm grip around her middle that kept her flush up against him made her shiver. 

When he all but carried her over to the couch in the living room, he sat her down so that she was straddling him (he really seemed to like having her on top..note to self- for future reference, of course). When his hands slipped down to grip her ass and pull her closer to him, his attention was momentarily focused on the soft spot behind her left ear, giving her a few seconds to collect her thoughts. Those thoughts end up taking her out of the moment when she breathlessly ask, “Why were you late to dinner?” 

Bucky had ceased his movements, almost making her whine, before shrugging. That’s it. No verbal answer. She looked down at him, a disbelieving look on her face. “Why were you late, Bucky?” She questioned him again. He groaned, leaning his head on her shoulder. “Can we not talk about it right now? I was having fun..” He whispered, nipping at her neck gently, but she wasn’t having it. Crawling off of his lap, she sat down next to him and crossed her arms, waiting for him to give her a proper answer. But it didn’t come. They looked at each other for a few moments before Bucky rolled his eyes and got up from the couch, making his way into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it with his left hand. 

“Darcy, I’m not telling you. I’m sorry.”

“But _why_?” She argued, looking over the back of the couch at him. 

“Because I don’t feel comfortable telling you, alright? Damn it Darcy, stop asking.” Finishing off the rest of his beer, Bucky made his way to the bedroom and started to undress himself, something he wished Darcy was doing, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen tonight. Darcy came in soon after he was down to his boxers, watching her as she undressed right in front of him. She stayed quiet, threw her dress into the closet once she managed to get it off, and made a little show of taking off her thigh-high stockings that made his mouth water and threw those into the closet as well. 

When she grabbed her own t-shirt and shorts from their drawers instead of her usual t-shirt(his) and boxers(also his), he knew she was pissed. He felt guilty, felt it deep in his stomach where it made him a little sick. But he had a good reason to not tell her, damn it! But when she whisked by him to grab her pillow off of her side of the bed and the folded blanket from the foot of the bed and walked out of the bedroom. He followed her, understanding what she was doing. 

“You aren’t sleeping out here, Darcy.” Instead of answering him, she plopped down on the couch where they had been making out _not even 10 minutes ago_. “You gonna ignore me now?” She buried her face into the cushion of the couch and her pillow, pulling the blanket up to her shoulders. Bucky heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose and walked back into the bedroom, climbed into bed and silently complained that the bed was too big for him without her there. 

He knew how to deal with Darcy when she did things like this. It had first started out when Bucky refused to talk to anyone once he arrived at the Tower. She would walk over to wherever he was, sit next to him and not say anything, just acting as though he wasn’t there. It annoyed the hell out of him and he would end up breaking out of his silence to swear at her, that would usually get a smile out of her and she’d say, ‘Got you to talk.’ It progressed into her giving him the cold shoulder when he disagreed with her about a movie, not looking at him or responding to his comments until he gave in and told her she was right. The thing was, it was never done in a serious manner until now, and he wasn’t sure when she’d decide to talk to him because he wasn’t telling her why he was late. No way in hell. 

Once midnight came around, when he knew she was dead asleep, he rolled out of bed and took his pillow with him. Placing it down next to the couch, Bucky carefully lifted Darcy and carried her back into the bedroom, placing her gently on the bed and tucked her under the covers. He went back to get her pillow, placed it under her head and went back to the couch. If she was upset that he moved her, he’d be all ears for her complaints. Crawling under the familiar covers, Bucky tried to chase the sleep he knew he wouldn’t get without her next to him.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

In the late afternoon the next day, everyone was lounging in the common room watching TV when Tony waltzed in with a shit eating grin. “Alright, everyone,” He began, rubbing his hands together, “We’re going to head to the bar.”

“Right now?” Clint grumbled from the loveseat, “But the new episode of The Real Housewives-”

“Unless you have plans to start paying your own rent, I own your ass, and your ass will be seated at the card table. Its poker night.” Tony was an asshole, especially when he wanted to do something fun with the team and they didn’t share those feelings. He’d pull out the ‘pay your own rent or gtfo” card, to which everyone who wasn’t a billionaire would get up and follow him. Which was exactly what happened. Darcy had never played poker well, but she wasn’t planning on making any bets, so she didn’t have anything to worry about, at least until Tony opened his mouth and uttered the words, “ _Strip poker_.” Fuck.

“Tony, there is no way we’re stripping down bare for a card game.” Steve said sternly. Everyone knew Steve wasn’t the blushing virgin Tony made him out to be, but since there were three women present, he didn’t want them feeling uncomfortable. Darcy would have said it was sweet he was sticking up for the ladies, but she wanted to see the super soldier in his under things, so she kept her lips sealed. 

“We can handle ourselves, Cap. You on the other hand..when was the last time you played poker?” Natasha smirked at him, knowing Steve didn’t spend his off time on poker matches. He took a seat. 

Everyone was sat down around a huge round table, cards within reach of everyone so no one had to strain to get a card. Darcy sat directly opposite of Tony, something she would later realize was not a coincidence. Bucky sat to her right, Jane to her left. Surprisingly Sam and Banner had been forced to join as well, though Sam didn’t seem to mind one bit. 

“Ok, kids. Whomever wins the hand gets to chose one person to strip off a piece of clothing, understand?” With no one objecting, the game began. 

-*-*-

This was going terrible, but Darcy made sure to not let her thoughts show. In college, she was never one to join these games because she would always end up drunk or naked or both. Now wasn’t that much different, but what was different was that almost everyone else was just as bad at poker as her. Here was where everyone stood clothing wise:

Bucky- Still remained clothed, missing both shoes and a sock

Bruce- Pants, t-shirt, and shoes still intact. He claimed that playing card games takes the edge off.

Clint- Only wearing his undershirt, boxers, and a sock

Jane- A few people were a little scared of how Thor would take them making her strip, except Tony and Natasha, so she was almost fully intact with everything but her sweater and shoes

Natasha- She was as good as Darcy thought she’d be, Natasha had only failed to win only a couple of times. She was only missing her necklace. Clint pouted when she removed it.

Sam- Told everyone he got a lot of practice in the army, he was missing his shirt. He wasn’t too bad on the eyes, if Darcy said so herself.

Steve- He surprised everyone the most. When he won the first five hands, he’d smirk at Bucky after each win before looking at Tony and waited for him to remove an article of clothing. Revenge was sweet. He was missing both socks and shoes.

Tony- Darcy shouldn’t have been so surprised, but she was. Tony, who was on the verge of stark-ass nude, was only wearing his socks and underwear. Everyone refused to pick him after he threatened to take out his arch reactor before his socks and underwear if anyone chose him. No one wanted to take any chances. He wore his smug grin with pride. 

Thor- He was adorable. And also naked. Like super naked. Like so naked that he had been wearing a wide grin all night and refused to get dressed since he lost, saying that because he lost he needs to have some sort of punishment. Everyone knew he just liked being naked, so no one bothered him. 

Darcy on the other hand, she was almost in her skivvies. There was nothing left for her to take off that didn’t expose her bra or undies, not that she was going to give up, but whenever someone won the round, Bucky would glare at them if they even looked in her direction. Tony on the other hand wasn’t phased in the slightest, he was the one who had stripped her, making it his personal goal to see what Darcy Lewis wore under her normal clothes. When Tony had a stroke of luck though, his eyes were on hers. “Strip, Lewis.” 

“No.” Bucky said sternly, putting his hand on her thigh. “Pick someone else, Stark.”

Tony cocked his head to the side, and evil grin forming on his lips, “I’m sorry, but you did hear me when I explained the rules, right? The winner chooses a loser. In this case,” Tony’s eyes moved back over to Darcy, “Lewis is the loser. She knows the rules. Also, I didn’t hear her object.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Darcy now. Bucky’s seemed to burn a hole in the side of her face, waiting for her to say no. But she didn’t. Instead, Darcy stood up and grabbed the end on her shirt and was about to pull it off when Bucky’s voice rang through the room. 

“ _Darcy._ ” He practically pleaded, “Please..don’t.”

“Why? It’s just a game, Bucky. Can’t handle a game?” She knew she shouldn’t be provoking him, knowing that he was already a bit riled up from arguing with Tony, but she did it anyway.

“‘Cause I don’t want them to see you like I can, Darcy.” 

“It’s a free country, Barnes.” Tony spoke up. “Not your fault your girl is shit with cards.”

“Shut it, Stark.” Bucky growled, eyes narrowing in his direction. 

Her hurt feelings from the night before overpowered the butterflies in her stomach. She pulled off her shirt. Bucky slammed his hand on the table, stood up from his seat so fast that it toppled over behind him, and walked out of the bar. Wolf whistles and clapping came from Tony and Clint, both getting slapped on the back of the head. Sam reached over and gave her a fist bump, glad someone else finally took off their shirt. After a few moments, Darcy sighed, “I should probably talk to him. Good luck, winner should get free drinks, unless it’s Steve, then free food.” She waved good bye, missed the knowing look that was shared between Natasha and Bruce, small smiled on their faces, and walked over to the elevators, punching her floor number and put her shirt back on once she was inside.

When she walked inside the apartment, she made sure to be loud enough to make herself known when she saw that their bedroom door was closed. Walking over to it, she went to turn the knob, but it was locked. Typical. She knocked on the door and called out Bucky’s name, but there was no answer. 

“Come on, Buck. I’m sorry you overreacted because I took my top off in front of our friends.” When she heard his scoff and the jiggling of the door handle, she knew he got him. 

When he opened the door, she saw he was dressed in his sweats. _Only_ his sweats. No shirt. Darcy had banned him from wearing too little clothing when they were still just friends, telling him it made her uncomfortable. When he realised it was because she wanted to jump his bones, he did it to tease her. “Are you trying to get me to reenact what you did? Cause I’m suppose to watch you take your shirt off and then storm out, you’re already one step ahead. When he rolled her eyes and pulled her into one of his warm hugs, she knew they were ok. But she still had one question to ask him. “James, why are you being so secretive with me?” 

Bucky lets her go and took a half step away, looking as though he were struggling to make a decision. When he turned around and dug through the closet and his suits, he pulled something out of one of his coat pocket. When he walked back over to her, he hid whatever was in his hand behind his back and took her hand, leading her over to the the couch. When she sat down, he remained standing in front of her, both hands now behind his back. 

“I’m sorry- the way I’ve been acting, it isn’t how I should be, especially with you.” He didn’t look at her when he talked to her, she knew what he was saying was hard for him to get out, so she stayed silent. “It’s hard to..express myself, out loud. With you though, you don’t judge me. I feel good when I’m around you. I’m also glad as hell that I agreed to do this stupid thing with you, because I honestly don’t know if I could have kept going on being around you like I was ok just being friends without going insane.” Taking a deep breath, Bucky mumbles quietly, “I’m sorry this isn’t as romantic as you were hoping,” and proceeded to get down on one knee in front of her. Bring the black velvet box from behind his back and opening it, Bucky asked her in a shaky voice, “Darcy Lewis, would you do the honor of marrying me?” 

Her breath caught in her chest, tears rolled over her cheeks. She nodded her head quickly, laughing when she couldn’t get the word ‘yes’ out without bawling. Bucky’s face had completely lit up. Taking the ring out of the box and very carefully sliding it onto her left ring finger, Darcy tackled him in a hug to the floor, feeling his arms wind around her waist as he held her close to him. They both giggled, Darcy’s tears didn’t stop coming, even when she began to litter his face with sweet kisses. “Yes, yes, yes.” She chanted after each kiss. 

Bucky accepted each kiss as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Picking her up and carrying her in his arms, Bucky walked into the bedroom before placing her on the bed and climbed over her. He gave her gentle kisses starting from her forehead to her cheeks, along her jawline and down the column of her neck, finally finishing at her collarbone. When Darcy moved to sit up, Bucky leaned back to give her space. When she began to take off her shirt, he put his hand over hers, stopping her. “You don’t have to, Darce.” His voice came out strained, but he kept his eyes sincere. She smiled at him, gave him a quick peck on the lips and whispered, “I want to, believe me.” The night would be theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WILL NOT KEEP YOU HANGING, NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE NSFW. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME IF IT ISN'T ANY GOOD, IT'LL BE MY FIRST NSFW SMUT. APOLOGIZING IN ADVANCE. LOVE YOU ALL AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Also sorry about that Stark nude pun I had to, I saw the chance and I took it damn it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a safe holiday, here's the newest chapter, PLEASE let me know if any of this is good, first time writing NSFW stuff. Thanks again for the kudos, comments and bookmarks!

After tugging her shirt off while Bucky carried her into the bedroom, Darcy pulled Bucky with her as he dropped her onto the bed. She threaded her fingers into his unruly brown hair and gave it a rough tug that caused him groan into her mouth. 

“Darcy..” He moaned, his breath ghosting over her swollen lips. 

“Pants,” she panted.

“What?”

“We should take off our pants.”

“Oh. Right, yeah.” Bucky sat up on his knees, giving her a good view of his naked chest and the swollen part of his sweatpants. She reached out her hands, roaming them over his chest, lightly tracing her fingers over his collarbone and down his pecs. As she dragged her nails down his stomach, she watched as his muscles twitched, and tried her best to smother her laugh. “Like what you see, doll?” Bucky smiled down at her, his own fingers fumbling to undo the button and zipper on her jeans. 

“Need help with that?” 

He shook his head, “I’m fully capable of taking your pants off, Darce.”

Slowly (too slowly, to be honest), Bucky pulled her jeans down her legs, trailing his hands along the milky skin of her thighs as he took off her pants. “You’re beautiful, Darcy.” He said gently. She was laid out before him, bra and underwear still intact, her curly hair framing her face. Instead of answering him, she wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled him over so she was on top of him. “My turn.”

As she undid the knotted string that was keeping his sweat pants around his waist, his hands quickly came up and stopped her, “Darcy..” She looked up at him, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, “What, Bucky? Do you not want to-”

“ _No_ , I mean- I do..I’m just..” He took a deep breath, and she saw a slight blush on his cheeks, “I’m not wearing anything, underneath..”

Oh. _Oh_. “Commando, huh?” He sighed, obviously uncomfortable, and glared at her half heartedly. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, Bucky. We’re going to be naked sooner or later, but I guess for right now we can push it for later.” She gently placed her hand on his cheek, brushing her thumb along his heated skin. “We can do other things in the mean time..” 

Darcy leaned down and started at the hinge of his jaw, placing soft, sweet kisses across his skin. She nipped and bit and licked down his throat, the soft moans she was getting from him made the feeling in the pit of her stomach grow. When her lips made their way to the scarred pink flesh where skin met with metal, she lightly traced her fingers along it. She expected him to become uncomfortable, not wanting her to be so close and look at something he tries very hard to hide, but instead she got something even better. 

“ _God_ , Darcy,” Bucky groaned, his hips lifting up reflexively. Very lightly, Darcy pressed her lips along the scar, listening to his breath quicken. She lifted her head so she could look at him and asked, “What does it feel like?”

 

“I dunno,” he murmured, rubbing the palms of his hands up and down her thighs, “It’s sensitive, I guess.” He took a deep breath and looked at her through hooded eyes, “It feels good.”

That’s all she needed to hear. This being her first time with Bucky, she wanted to make sure he felt good and comfortable, and with him being so open and exposed in front of her, she’ll do anything to make her time with him perfect. If not, there’ll be a lot of time for improvement, ‘til death do they part. Jesus, she almost forgot what Bucky did not even half an hour ago. 

“We’re getting married, Buck…” she whispered excitedly to him.

He looked at her, his eyes being the window into his soul, she could see just how happy he was. His smile could light up the city, it made her head spin. “Darcy Barnes…” he said breathlessly. She scoffed, leaning down to press more kisses along his neck. “Darcy Barnes? What about James Lewis?”

“A conversation for the morning, doll.” It was quick, him rolling over and pressing her into the mattress, “For right now, though,” He purred, “I’m going to make you squirm.” 

Gently holding her face, Bucky stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and placed soft kisses on her forehead, nose, and the corner of her mouth. Running his right hand down her neck, he nipped at the sensitive spots that made her cry out in pleasure. When his hand drifted from her neck to the fabric along the cup of her bra, he looked at her, silently asking for permission to remove it. She nodded her head, arched her back so he could remove the offending fabric. When he tossed her bra behind him, the sight of her one less article of clothing away from being totally exposed, he growled. 

“You are _stunning_ ,” Bucky placed a soft kiss on her chest, “And kind,” he continued.

“What-?”

“Considerate,” Trailing his lips to her left breast, and took her sensitive nipple into his mouth. 

“ _Jesus_ ,” she whimpered, her hands gripping the sheets in her tiny fists. From the fourplay they’ve been teasing each other with, Darcy felt tingles spread throughout her body. Every touch, kiss, and lick was driving her more and more crazy. It all felt so good. 

Bucky’s mouth continued its journey down her body, a trail of kisses laying in his wake. Once he got to the top of her panties, he hooked his fingers into the clothing and slowly dragged them down her legs. “Get on with it, Bucky.” Darcy panted. 

“Patience,” he cooed. Her underwear joined the pile of clothes with her bra, wherever it was, and he sat back up on his knees. She was beautiful. He made sure to tell her as often as he could. When she started to squirm under his gaze, he settled between her thighs, hooking his arms around her legs to hold her steady. 

Darcy’s breathing changed depending on what he did. When he first lay down, she closed her eyes and rested her head back on her pillow. He could feel how quick her pulse was from where his left hand was resting on her hip, and when he leaned his head down and slowly licked the inside of her thighs, he felt her pulse start to quicken. Grinning once he heard her breath hitch, Bucky kissed his way down the inside of her right inner thigh, breathed out across her exposed core (where she squirmed so much that he had to hold her hips down with his hands, which she _loved_ ), and started to repeat the same thing on the inside of her left thigh. 

“Bucky.. _please_ , God..” she pleaded, whimpering when he didn’t stop his actions. 

“Please what, Darcy? Tell me what you want, doll.” His trail of kisses led so close to her core, her whimpers became louder to the point where she was panting. “Tell me, Darcy.” Bucky growled, his breath making her shiver from where it was hitting her. 

Darcy’s hands grasped his arms strongly, her nails biting into his skin. “I need you, _now_.” The look in her eyes made him harder than he’d been all night, the pure lustful gaze made him groan as he unhooked his arms from around her legs. He quickly rolled off the bed, undid the string of his sweats and reached into the side table drawer for a condom.

Darcy laughed, and when he looked at her, he saw her brow was arched. “Prepared?” She asked, humor and lust in her voice was plain deadly to his ears. Shaking his head as he ripped the small package open, Bucky breathed out, “Stark. Thought it’d be funny. Probably teasing me. Had it for months- _Jesus_ ,” he whined as Darcy took the condom from his hands and expertly rolled it onto his shaft, the feeling of her tiny hands gripping him slowly drove him mad, “I didn’t think I’d need ‘em but kept them anyway,” he groaned again as her hands started to pump him, gripping him just tight enough where his pleasure sat on the line of ‘not enough’ and ‘too much’. 

“Enough,” he murmured, climbing back on the bed and pushing Darcy back onto the mattress. Gripping her hips and pulling her far enough down on the bed where he could take both her wrists in his hands and pin them above her head. Her eyes rolled back, hips arching up to meet with his, and a low moan escaped between her lips. “I want you,” he whispered into her ear.

“Want you more,” She teased, biting her lip in anticipation, waiting for his next move. 

Bucky couldn’t find it in himself to wait any longer because teasing her also meant teasing himself, he wasn’t sure he had that much self-control left. “You sure?” Bucky asked her, making sure Darcy was still comfortable with what was to come next.

“God, yes..” she breathed and lightly scraped her nails down his spine. Shivering from her touch, he placed a soft kiss on her lips before lining himself up with her and slowly ground his hips with her own. They both let out a chorus of moans, Bucky _loving_ the slick, tight heat surrounding him, and Darcy feeling little sparks of pleasure starting to build up again. Darcy arched her back and gave a weak whimper, her nails biting into the flesh of his back, and when Bucky pulled out and gave a hard thrust, she trembled underneath him. As she cried out in pleasure, Bucky got lost in the sensation of being so close to her. Looking down at her, Darcy’s eyes were squeezed shut in concentration while her mouth was open and quiet cries fell from her lips. She was so _beautiful_ , her emotions raw and laid out before him, he wanted to keep this moment burned into his memory and never forget it. 

As he continued to relentlessly keep his pace steady and hard inside her, Darcy’s brain slowly started to scramble. All she could focus on was how good Bucky was making her feel. Every kiss he placed on her lips, every groan that vibrated from his chest, she fell deeper and deeper. She was almost there, her body tensing around him-

“I love you, Darcy.”

She let go. Her body trembled and her quiet moans turned to loud cries of passion. Darcy had no idea what she was saying to Bucky, but whatever it was made him lose it as well. With his face buried in her neck, Buck’s uneven pace finally finished with a low grunt and deep thrust. Collapsing on top her, though making sure not to crush her, Bucky wrapped up Darcy’s trembling body into his arms, whispering sweet nothings into her ear as she drifted off into an exhausted sleep. 

-*-*-*-*-

Darcy hated waking up in the middle of the night because of how thirsty she gets. As much as she tried to make it a habit, she still forgets to leave a glass of water on her side of the bed. Sitting up, she yanked the covers off of her body and walked to the bedroom door, stopping when she heard Bucky’s alarmed voice. “Are you alright? Why are you up?”

“Water. Not the end of the world, go back to sleep, Buck. I’ll be right back, you want a glass?”

“No thanks, Darce.” He muttered, and curled into her side of the bed, shoving his face into her pillow. 

Making her way out of the room and into the kitchen, Darcy padded over to one of the cabinets, grabbed a glass and walked over to the fridge to fill it. It only took a few moments to fill the glass up, but it was enough for her to realize the dull ache between her thighs; even though she was alone in the kitchen, she blushed. She could faintly remember Bucky’s hands tracing over her body, the quiet things he whispered into her ear that made her melt. 

Darcy took a sip from her cup. She needs to cool down. 

Taking a quick look at the time on her stove, her muscles screamed at her to walk back to bed when the time read 3:48 am. Shuffling back to the bedroom, Bucky held out his hand for the glass, took a quick sip and handed it back to her. Darcy did the same before setting it back down on the bedside table and climbed back under the covers and snuggled back into Buck’s warm embrace.

“Love you,” she mumbled quietly.

“Love you, too. G’night, doll.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but I already have the next chapter planned out. Sorry it took a month to update!

"Ok, we book a flight, and right as we're about to board the plane, we tell them. That way they can't question us."

Bucky huffed out a laugh, "Your family will, though. And it's not like we're never going back to the Tower, we're gonna have to bring it up to them sooner or later."

Darcy groaned, dropping her head back down on his chest. It was about 8 in the morning and the thought of how they were going to tell their friends about their engagement had been making its way into both their heads. So far, Darcy's ideas were the 'tell 'em and run' type of plan. 

"They're going to say 'I told you so', Bucky. I hate it when people say that. Plus, Tony and Jane are going to be a real pain in the ass once they know!" 

Bucky chuckled and kissed the crown of her head, "It's worth it, doll." 

" _Or_ , what we _could_ do-" 

Darcy was interrupted by the shrill ring of a cell phone. Reaching over to the bedside table, Bucky grabbed his phone and looked at the caller ID. He sighed before answering, "Agent Hill? Yes, I remember. Tonight, what time? Ok....for how long? Alright. Yes ma'am." 

"What was that all about?" Darcy asked, gently running the pads of her fingers along the metal plates of his arm.

Pulling her so that she was practically laying on top of him, Bucky wraps his arms around her waist and holds her tight. "Steve and I have our mission tonight,” he answers, his voice low, “we fly out at 6:30." 

"Oh." Darcy whispers and hides her face in the crook of his neck. She knew it was his job, knew he was apart of SHIELD and the Avengers, but she still hates to see him go. She wishes she were more selfish, wishes she was able to keep Bucky with her, only her. But that wasn't how things worked. 

"Hey, Darce, I'll be ok," he assured her, "Steve and I aren't doin' anything major. I'll give you somethin' to remember me by, though." She could hear the tone in his voice drop, a dead giveaway that he's definitely up to no good. 

Easily flipping her over on to her back, Bucky captures her lips in a heated kiss and slowly, but surely, turns her into a moaning mess. "My fiancée," he whispers, “I love you.” 

"Is that what we're doing now?" She asks breathlessly, "You're so cliche." 

Bucky hovers over her, his naked chest pressed to her own, "You know, doll, everything I do is normal. I _was_ born in the 1910's," he nipped at her neck and felt her shiver underneath him. He sighs, "Still can't believe you want to marry me. You know I'm a train wreck, right?" 

Darcy laughed and swatted his arm, "We're both train wrecks, buddy. And sure, you're an Avenger slash spy, but you're easy on the eyes and call me doll, it's worth it. Fiancé."

-*-*-*-*-*-

The two decide, after their long hours spent in bed together, to tell the group about their engagement once Bucky and Steve return from their mission. There was no way Darcy could tell the team by herself. 

So there she was, standing next to Nat and Jane freezing her ass off on top of the tower's landing roof thing, watching Steve, Bucky and the SHIELD agents that would be accompanying them on the mission load the plane. Being the last to board, Bucky turned to give Darcy a smile and quick wink before entering. Man, she hated seeing him go. 

Once the plane took off and snow started to fall, the three women decided it was time for hot chocolate and rom-com movies. Natasha and Jane still had their guys with them in the tower, but they made sure to have a bit of a girls night whenever one of them went on missions. Pepper usually joined in, but with her recent flight to Malibu, she couldn't make it (which was sad because Pepper always brought the best booze). Darcy was glad she has friends who have shared experiences with superhero boyfriends. 

Over the course of the few days that followed Bucky leaving for his mission, Darcy managed to clean their entire apartment and focus more on herself. Without him, she realized she had quite a lot of time on her hands after she was finished helping Jane in the lab. 

After debating on whether or not she should rearrange furniture(which she decided against because seriously? She could barely do a push up, let alone move a couch). So that left her with cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, finish her and Bucky's laundry, and even organize things around the apartment. 

*  
"It's.. surprisingly clean in here. Why is that?" 

Jane, who had been recently locked out of her lab for not sleeping in over 72 hours, went to visit Darcy. 

"Can't a girl clean her home without being questioned?" Darcy muttered from the kitchen, pouring two glasses of wine for her and Jane. Darcy knew why she was over, and if Jane was trying to wait out the time it took for the lab to unlock, she's just going to have to trick the sneaky woman into sleep herself. Alcohol always does the trick. 

Jane rolled her eyes, taking a seat on Darcy's couch before saying, "Not if said girl is _you_." 

Darcy narrowed her eyes before bringing two glasses of wine into the living room, handing one glass to Jane. "Honestly, I forgot how lonely I get when Bucky's away." Bucky hadn't been on a mission in months, his programming that he had been trying to get rid of had somehow started back up while he was away. No one wanted him on a mission until it was fixed. "He's been training for the last couple months, but I never really thought about what it would be like when left." 

"I know what you mean." Jane said, squeezing Darcy's free hand. And she did. When Thor leaves for Asgard, he's usually gone for months on end, which usually leads to Jane practically living in the labs to keep herself occupied. "How are you guys doing, though? Is dating Bucky different from being friends with him?"

Darcy shrugged her shoulders, "It's not that much different. A lot more kissing, which is definitely nice. We still act the same around each other, it's just.. things are more intimate." She knew she was blushing, Darcy expected Jane to sit up and yell, 'Told ya so!'. Strangely enough, she didn't. 

Instead, Jane gave Darcy's hand another squeeze and said, "I'm glad you're happy, Darce." 

A few hours later, Jane was out. Darcy had to call Thor to come pick her up. 

-*-*-*-*-

On the fourth night, Darcy was just about to make the Mac and Cheese recipe she found on Pinterest when her cell phone started beeping at her. She smiled, Bucky was home. Setting down the ingredients, she quickly jogged into the living room and snatched her phone off the coffee table. 

"Hellooo?" She sang, a smile breaking out across her face. 

"Darcy, this is Agent Hill. I need you to go to the medical lab in the tower." 

Her heart dropped, "What happened?" Not bothering to change out of her hoodie and sweats, Darcy shoved her feet into the first pair of shoes she could find and sprinted to the elevator. 

"He isn't hurt, Darcy." Hill answered quietly. That seemed to calm her down a bit, but the lack of an explanation of _why_ he was on the medical floor caused her to ask her next question, "Is he still Bucky?" 

"Room 113." The line went dead.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a chapter.

Darcy wasn't sure who she should be looking for. Probably Steve. He'd know what to do. He'd be able to tell her what was happening. Bucky couldn't just... get lost in his own mind, right? Like, at the end of the night it was still him. The more she thought about it, the less sure she became. 

The subject of what went on while Bucky was the Winter Soldier and the few months after Steve found him and helped him get better wasn't Bucky's favorite subject. For the most part, he kept her in the dark, which she fully understood. But now that she has been put in the situation where her best friend/ fiancé might not come back to her, she wishes she hounded him more. 

After counting the rooms that lined the wall, the remaining door ended at 100. She checked again. Nothing. "JARVIS? Where are the rooms 101 and up?" 

Instead of answering her, the elevator doors opened. She groaned, but stepped inside. "JARVIS, please tell me what's happening," Darcy begged, "I need to know he's ok." 

"I'm afraid I cannot disclose that information with you at the moment, Ms. Lewis." 

Her eyes burned, tears threatening to form. This can't happen. Not now, not while things were getting good between them. "Who's up there?" 

"Sir and Captain Rogers, though no one has entered the room since the team arrived back at the tower." 

The _ding_ of the elevator rang when it reached the lab floor. Darcy had never been up here, but now that she was, she understood why. 

It was creepy, to say the least. Each of the rooms had reinforced steel walls and had, what looked like, an interrogation room attached to each cell. Her stomached turned. 

"Darcy!" 

Her head whipped around at the sound of her name being called and found Steve standing outside one of the rooms down the hall. She ran down the hall and latched herself into him in a huge hug, something they both needed at the moment. 

"What's happening?" She whimpered. Steve rubbed her back as he held her. 

"Bucky-" he sighed, "I don't know. I don't know how it happened, how I let it happen. One second, we see a guy in one of the control rooms, and the next second, Bucky's on the ground after the guy says one word." 

"I have to see him-" Darcy states, trying to untangle herself from Steve's grasp, but when she walked to the door that led to where Bucky was staying, a woman's voice stopped her. 

"I'm sorry ma'am, but you can't do that." Trailing behind the woman, both decked out in their sleepwear, we're Clint, Natasha, and Bruce. Darcy barely noticed them. 

"Excuse me?" 

"Only family can see him at the moment, and Captain Rogers is the closest thing to family he has. No one else may go inside until further notice." 

Darcy, who is half out of her mind at the moment, takes the poor nurse's statement as something of a challenge. " _I am_ his family," she seethes out and proceeds to open the door to his room. 

"Ma'am, friends are not considered family-!" 

" _I'm his fiancée, damn it!_ " Darcy (sadly) missed the faces of her friends as she held her left hand up in the air. Clint and Steve both wore matching expressions of confusion and surprise, while Nat mutters a "Fucking finally," and Bruce looks at her with a knowing smile. 

-*-*-*-

Bucky is super unconscious. Not because he was hit over the head and knocked out, but because some HYDRA goon said some trigger word. 

"Damn it, dude. Things were going awesome and you had to go get knocked out, you stupid idiot." She sighed, resting her head on his arm. Darcy, who was sitting crisscross on one of the chairs in the room, sat so that her chair was right next to the bed. She wasn't comfortable, but she knew she couldn't leave. She wants to be there when he wakes up. If he wakes up. 

_No! He's waking up, you're both explaining to your friends why you flipped out on the poor nurse who was just doing her job, and you're going to get married._

"You're really good for him, you know."

Darcy laughed, instantly recognizing who walked into the room, "You a professional matchmaker, Tony?" 

Shrugging his shoulders, Tony smirked at her. "I guess you could say that. You and Barnes are engaged, right?" 

Darcy groaned, rolling her eyes. "God, I knew you would be annoying once you found out." 

Tony chuckled and pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. "Sorry. I came here to tell you that Nat might have found a way to wake Barnes up. Something about the Russians." When he didn't get an reply, Tony saw that she was crying, tears slowly running down her pink stained cheeks. "Y'know, I'm not good with comforting women, just ask Pepper, but when I thought Pep was gone a few months ago... Jesus, I can't even remember what happened after I saw her fall."

"What do you mean?" 

Tony shook his head, "I don't know, I think I just blacked out. I knew she would come out scratched, but I'd never thought about the possibility of losing her altogether. It felt like something in my brain just _snapped_." 

"So you're trying to tell me in going to blackout for the next few hours or _days_. Tony, you really aren't good at this comforting thing." 

"That's not what I'm trying to say, kid. What I mean is that Pepper means a lot to me. Barnes means a lot to you. If something does happen, it's gonna change you for a while. I just want to let you know that we're all here for you, Darcy. Don't be afraid to talk to any of us. We'll listen." Darcy was about to cry into his shoulder and tell him she takes back everything she's ever said about him until he continued, "But if he does wake up, you think you guys could say you've been engaged for like weeks instead of a day? Nat's going to win the bet if it was recent." 

"Tony, leave."

"Ok." 

Before he left the room completely, Darcy called out, saying, "Thanks. For the advice, I mean." He smiled and closed the door. 

Settling back into her chair, taking Bucky's hand in her own, Darcy begged every god that was listening to help Natasha find a way to wake him up.


End file.
